hobbes64's recent activity
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Comment on US President-Elect Donald Trump ignores transition rules in ~society
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Comment on I am looking for 100% ad-free apps for older adults with dementia. Things like jigsaw puzzles, coloring and the like. Paid is fine. in ~life
hobbes64 Link ParentI prefer the usability of Good Sudoku by Zach Gage but I think it’s only on IOSI prefer the usability of Good Sudoku by Zach Gage but I think it’s only on IOS
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentYeah there has been a lot of fear about what is going to happen in the next admin. The only thing certain is there will be rampant corruption. We have knowledge of this from 2016-2020, and...Yeah there has been a lot of fear about what is going to happen in the next admin. The only thing certain is there will be rampant corruption. We have knowledge of this from 2016-2020, and everything that has happened since including the cabinet picks and how project 2025 is meant to cause long lasting harm to ethics and accountability.
This means that this can go away for a price, and google has a lot of money. -
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
hobbes64 Link ParentI kind of understand your point. I see these more of like homages rather than substitutes for retro games. Like "Shovel Knight" is extremely retro but also something a little different. Most of...I kind of understand your point. I see these more of like homages rather than substitutes for retro games. Like "Shovel Knight" is extremely retro but also something a little different. Most of the ufo 50 games have some quality of life improvement that wouldn't have been in an NES game. Like a continue without a password. Of course, if you are running ROMS in an emulator you have that kind of stuff with save states.
Your comment somehow reminds me of a lot of games that came out in the early 90s, at about the time when VGA cards and soundblaster cards were popular but before emulators really took off. There were a lot of homemade clones of games like Asteroids and Defender and Galaga. Then Microsoft came out with Microsoft Arcade. These were very good ports of original Atari games, not emulated. They were fun, but somehow they seemed like a waste of time because they were slightly easier or had weird controls like mouse support in Tempest.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
hobbes64 LinkI'm still playing ufo 50. I've had it since it came out and I've won about 10 of the games. So far I have over 130 hours in it. It's a tremendous value if you like retro games. Some of the games...I'm still playing ufo 50. I've had it since it came out and I've won about 10 of the games. So far I have over 130 hours in it. It's a tremendous value if you like retro games.
Some of the games are like an album that you don't like at first but later become your favorite.
Here are the games that I've played the most (enough to win):
- Porgy: This is an underwater metroidvania. I little too hard at first but gets better in mid-game. Too much backtracking but still a very good game.
- Grimstone: Traditional JRPG. Lots of grinding.
- Pilot: An action game that has an idle/offline component that runs as long as you are playing another ufo 50 game. I won this but didn't get "cherry" because it seemed annoying to try.
- Mini & Max: This one is great at first, then a little confusing, then gets better in mid-game. It's an adventure platformer with clever mechanics.
- Party House: Once I figured this out I found it to be one of the best games. I wish it had a few more scenarios. This would be a great mobile game.
- Golfaria: This game is very frustrating in the beginning because you keep running out of strokes. Gets much better mid game.
- Night Manor: Traditional point & click adventure game from the 80s. Not too hard to beat but I had to use a guide to figure out how to get the best ending
- Camouflage: Puzzle game. Easy to win but a lot harder to get "cherry" ending.
There are a lot of other games that are quite popular but I don't care much for them. Like "Magic Garden". I'm just not good at it. I just started "Valbrace", which may be great, but I'm finding the early game to be pretty frustrating because you have to replay an entire floor if you die in battle.
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Comment on Churchil Solitaire - The game that turned me off from buying mobile games in ~games
hobbes64 Link ParentYes it's that one. I guess that could have been a clue that there were unknown unknowns when I bought it.Yes it's that one. I guess that could have been a clue that there were unknown unknowns when I bought it.
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Comment on Churchil Solitaire - The game that turned me off from buying mobile games in ~games
hobbes64 Link ParentThanks for the recommendations. I have Balatro on steam so I play it on my laptop. Too bad steam doesn't work on mobile devices.Thanks for the recommendations. I have Balatro on steam so I play it on my laptop. Too bad steam doesn't work on mobile devices.
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Comment on Churchil Solitaire - The game that turned me off from buying mobile games in ~games
hobbes64 Link ParentYes I see that my post seems like I'm a total crank lol. I'm not really hung up on this game. I never bought undos and I just stopped playing it a long time ago. I just noticed it on my phone...Yes I see that my post seems like I'm a total crank lol.
I'm not really hung up on this game. I never bought undos and I just stopped playing it a long time ago. I just noticed it on my phone yesterday and played it again, and I got a little annoyed.
I should have been clear in my post that I wanted to start a conversation about recent small mobile games that aren't pay to win. I'll edit the post to add that -
Churchil Solitaire - The game that turned me off from buying mobile games
Churchill Solitaire is a mobile game that you can play on Apple or Android devices. It came out in 2016. I found out about it in 2018. It had some very good reviews. It was mentioned that the game...
Churchill Solitaire is a mobile game that you can play on Apple or Android devices. It came out in 2016. I found out about it in 2018. It had some very good reviews. It was mentioned that the game is difficult to beat. At the time I was playing some different solitaire games on mobile so I decided to try another. I paid $4.99 to unlock "all deals and free play".
The game is pretty good. $5 was a little expensive to pay for a game that only had one variation of solitaire. For example, I had the game Solebon Pro which has 160 variations. That game cost $10.
So Churchill Solitaire is not a great value. Not all games have the same value of course. But the reason I stopped playing it is because it charges you to get hints and undo moves. A game that is this hard just wastes your time if you can't undo. You can get quite near the end of a session and need to completely restart because you had several choices earlier and picked the wrong one.
Here is the In-App purchase list that is currently on the App Store in 2024. I don't remember if these prices were the same in 2018, but they are the current prices if you want to unlock any of the features:
- Undos - 15 Pack $0.99
- Hints - 15 Pack $0.99
- Undos - 100 Pack $5.99
- Hints - 100 Pack $5.99
- Unlock All Deals & Freeplay $4.99
- Game Pack 1 $0.99
- Daily Game (Monthly) $4.99
- Game Pack 2 $0.99
- Game Pack 3 $0.99
- Undos - 50 Pack $4.99
I understand that the developer should get paid money for unlocking the basic game. I understand that making additional winnable deals may take developer time (most deals are unwinnable in this game, but there is a "campaign" that has winnable deals). I understand that having a daily game may cost the developer to maintain servers and create winnable deals.
But I don't understand charging for hints or undos. I mean, I understand it from a greed perspective. But not from an "I respect the people who paid money for my game" perspective. Yes, I know about Candy Crush and all the other super addictive mobile games that are pay to win and farm money from whales. But this one just pissed me off in particular. This is the mobile game equivalent of heated seats in a BMW.
Since 2018 I've only bought 2 mobile games. So sorry other game devs, I don't even check the app store for games anymore.
Edit: It has been rightfully pointed out that this is a bit of a cranky post. I didn't make clear my intention. Maybe someone can recommend some recent small mobile games, like card or sudoku or something, that aren't pay to win. I am aware of one: Good Sudoku.
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentI admit I'm kind of looking forward to the "find out" stage, when people realize that corruption and kakistocracy aren't a viable form of government. I've already seen online, and expect to see...I admit I'm kind of looking forward to the "find out" stage, when people realize that corruption and kakistocracy aren't a viable form of government. I've already seen online, and expect to see for years to come, tearful posts from trump supporters about how they didn't know they were going to be screwed over by what they voted for. Unfortunately, these posts are either made up to get clicks, or reflect a tiny minority. I think the supporters largely won't admit to anything and will just blame some other marginalized group when things get bad. That's the example set by their leader.
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Comment on Tracking who US President Donald Trump has named to serve in his cabinet and administration in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentWith respect to Trump, this has not been the issue. The issue has been reluctance or refusal to report on what evidence there is. Trump himself is a Russian asset. This was found in the Mueller...With respect to Trump, this has not been the issue. The issue has been reluctance or refusal to report on what evidence there is.
Trump himself is a Russian asset. This was found in the Mueller Report. It said that there was collusion between the trump campaign and Russia. That Trump associates with Russian officials and spies. That Trump obstructed justice which tied the hands of doing more investigation.
Trump's AG William Barr went on the news and said there was no collusion. This was repeated over and over by right wing media such as Fox News which has propagandists which are called "journalists".
This story should have been much bigger than Watergate. The NY Times, Washington Post, Network News, and other bastions of the American press ran some stories about it but soon went on to other scandals and continued to normalize Trump as if he was a typical politician.
This is just a fraction of the story.
My blunt opinion is not borne from thin air, but from absolute fury at how the most dangerous person in American history is once again going to work on destruction of the country with the help of foreign enemies and a largely compliant corporate press.
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Comment on Tracking who US President Donald Trump has named to serve in his cabinet and administration in ~society
hobbes64 (edited )Link ParentTulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset. See, I'm not the washington post or whatever, I can state a fact like that and not have to say dumb legalese like "She has apparent conflicts of interest" or "has...Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset.
See, I'm not the washington post or whatever, I can state a fact like that and not have to say dumb legalese like "She has apparent conflicts of interest" or "has made statements that favor Russia and China over the United States", or "nobody knows why Russian agent Elena Branson donated to her campaign".
For a while I wondered why the republican party has so many ties to Russia. It seems that they are very cheap to buy. A lot of people assumed that there was kompromat against them that would cause them to do openly shocking things, such as when 6 senators and a house member prominently went to Russia on July 4 2018. This was right after the Senate Intelligence committee confirmed the US Intelligence communities assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. But I should have noticed see that Russia is not just handing them bags of money, but coordinating the dark money propaganda that helps them get into power, regardless of their total lack of ability to do the job.
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Comment on What are your favorite “chore” games? in ~games
hobbes64 LinkI’ve been playing NGU Idle for a few years. It takes at least a year to complete, assuming you spend a few minutes a day. I finished it once and started again. I’m not sure why lol. Progress is...I’ve been playing NGU Idle for a few years. It takes at least a year to complete, assuming you spend a few minutes a day. I finished it once and started again. I’m not sure why lol. Progress is very slow but constant, there are some puzzles to solve and some walls to progress that take some effort to overcome. It’s free on steam with some optional purchases.
It was in development for several years. I started playing near the time of the last update that will ever happen. Parts of the endgame seem slightly unfinished. It’s very clearly an indie game made by one person with modest artistic skills. That’s part of the charm I guess. It used to be playable on the web but I think that’s been shut down. There are quite a few strategy guides online and a wiki that is complete and informative. -
Comment on Can Donald Trump reduce the US trade deficit? in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentAgreed, the article doesn’t consider motivations, but I was getting distracted because the summary talked about how Trump would be disappointed in the results of the thing all the experts told him...Agreed, the article doesn’t consider motivations, but I was getting distracted because the summary talked about how Trump would be disappointed in the results of the thing all the experts told him not to do.
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Comment on Can Donald Trump reduce the US trade deficit? in ~society
hobbes64 LinkI’m having some trouble with the premise that Trump would do tariffs to reduce the trade deficit. For a normal president, you may give the benefit of the doubt that something is done for the...I’m having some trouble with the premise that Trump would do tariffs to reduce the trade deficit. For a normal president, you may give the benefit of the doubt that something is done for the stated purpose and to with good intentions. Based on his past behavior, I cannot give this kind of trust to Trump. Therefore, I must assume that the only intended side effect is to somehow benefit himself or his associates.
So in my opinion, Trump and/or his advisors intend to personally benefit from harming the economy. I don’t think it is much of a conspiracy theory to assume it is to cause yet another wealth transfer to the super rich.
I guess it’s possible that Trump cares about his legacy and thinks this is a brilliant idea. It more likely he’s been told that economic chaos leads to fire sales that Musk, Thiel, and others can take advantage of.
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The destruction of the soft power of the United States
I haven't seen anything about this topic online yet, but to be fair I have been avoiding the news a bit for my own sanity. One of the disasters of the recent presidential election is the damage to...
I haven't seen anything about this topic online yet, but to be fair I have been avoiding the news a bit for my own sanity.
One of the disasters of the recent presidential election is the damage to the "soft power" of the United States. By this I mean, the ability of the country to affect the behavior of other countries through cooperation and attraction. You can't have soft power if you don't have reliability, trustworthiness, and honor. Soft power takes years and decades to build. During the first Trump presidency, he did tremendous damage by siding with dictators, criticizing his own advisors, complaining about NATO countries not paying their share.. Like all of his ideas, it is based on the claim that he understands everything, I'll just do this simple thing and it fixes everything. So let's cut the deficit by cutting spending everywhere. When Biden was elected, some of this damage was undone, but the trust needs more than four years to recover. Well, now Trump is back before the trust was really regained. There is no ally in the world that can fully trust the United States. If we all survive the next four years, and there is a fair election, and then the best president of all time is elected, it will hardly help. The whole world knows that we are a country that is stupid and selfish enough to elect another trump in the near future. There is no way to unring this horrible bell.
Yes, I know that the US has done terrible things with it's power in the past, including invasions of other countries. But there has never been a leader in charge that openly antagonizes allies and embraces adversaries, and is so obviously corrupt and easily manipulated through bribery and favors. That so clearly works to weaken the United States in every possible way, including sowing division internally, flaunting ethics, and all the other "unamerican" things we have seen him do.
About Trump's complaints in his first term that we have bases all over the world and we are paying for it: Yes, we are. And it pays back in dividends. Besides the projection of power that serves our interests, it also gives us a reason to build equipment (in the US) using labor in the US and technology studied and implemented in the US. Complaining to NATO that they aren't paying their fair share makes them think "oh shit, the US won't protect us anymore. We better make more nukes". Now we are drastically increasing nuclear and military proliferation problems that are way more likely to have conflicts.
About Trump simplistic solutions such as cutting spending on programs: Remember how trump cut the staff by two-thirds of a key US health agency operating in China? Right before the coronavirus outbreak. For all we know, the global pandemic could have been almost averted.
Most voters apparently don't understand this type of thing of course. This is a problem of education, especially in civic responsibility. But I am sure that there are people in the Republican party, and working for Fox News, and on talk radio, that understand the things I said, and to a much better extent than some random guy on the internet. But for some reason they don't seem to give a shit. Something is more important to them so they allowed Trump to continue and they constantly help spread lies to give him more power. I find this very curious and suspicious.
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Comment on Has Valtteri Bottas been treated unfairly by Audi's F1 project? in ~sports.motorsports
hobbes64 Link ParentYes I agree. And not even from a cynical place. I like Bottas. But nobody is owed anything in F1. He's set for life, if he wants to race different cars, or just do bike rides, or ironman...Yes I agree. And not even from a cynical place. I like Bottas. But nobody is owed anything in F1. He's set for life, if he wants to race different cars, or just do bike rides, or ironman competitions. He'll be fine.
Slightly related, I see a lot of posts that are very worried about what will happen to Mick Schumacher. He's had more chances in F1 than most of the drivers who want it. He just wasn't good enough. He seems like a nice chap, but there are a lot of nice chaps who don't get such opportunities. Same with Ricciardo.
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Comment on Understanding the leftist that didn't vote: "Everybody else gets one, but not me" in ~society
hobbes64 (edited )LinkOk I was going to make a separate post about this, and maybe I will, but I have a response to your post which is related. One reason I've been upset about the election is because so many people...Ok I was going to make a separate post about this, and maybe I will, but I have a response to your post which is related.
One reason I've been upset about the election is because so many people voted against their own interests because they are wrong about reality.
When I've asked people why they voted for Trump, or didn't vote, they usually give me a reason that is not tied to reality. Let's say they say something about the price of groceries. Trump is not going to reduce the price of groceries, and things he says he will do will cause harm in the long term and more harm in the longer term.
So it puts pressure on me to try to correct them, and frankly that is quite stressful. In the past, I've known that people are wrong about a lot of things but their wrongness has not harmed me directly. For example, they go to a megachurch and give money to some liar who flies around in a private jet while preaching the opposite of what is in the Bible. That mostly just harms them. When it's politics, I have way more interest in their bad decisions based on lies. I'm sort of able to sway the opinions closer to reality for people I know really well, For others it's just a waste of time and causes a lot of stressful arguments.In your case, I disagree with you but I think you have a grasp on reality. Of course it's possible with different people who have access to true and correct information to come to different conclusions. You and I disagree on strategies for making society better, but I don't detect that you are just repeating talking points. Except the part about genocide. You will get a lot of pushback about that because there are a ton of bad actors and bots who use that term to try to bothsides politics and possible policy choices by democrats and republicans. One of the top strategies of the right wing is to discourage people from voting. Yes I (somewhat) understand the history of Palestine but voting for Harris was an imperfect harm reduction strategy, especially if you consider the fate of people in Ukraine, American women, damage to the climate, and all the other damage caused by having a mentally ill fascist surrounded by other immoral criminals running the most powerful country in the world.
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Comment on Donald Trump didn't win on the US economy. He won on the perception of it. in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentStupid is a loaded word. But a lot of people are stupid. It’s shorthand for “some people do not have the ability to detect disinformation”. Actually, they have no interest in detecting it at all....Stupid is a loaded word. But a lot of people are stupid. It’s shorthand for “some people do not have the ability to detect disinformation”. Actually, they have no interest in detecting it at all. They are going through their life with their hands over their ears and screaming LA LA LA LA when someone tries to tell them a reality that they don’t like. It appears that in the United States at least 70 million people have this problem.
Why would someone watch Fox News? They are not being forced to do that. They just want their preconceived opinions fed back to them over and over again. They want to be enraged and then they want to see their enemies struggle. What kind of person even starts watching that? Authoritarian followers (conservatives) who want to be in an in group that dominates an out group.
I think Noam Chomsky is a very problematic person but he’s right about manufactured consent. But people now choose which consent they want manufactured for them when they continue to watch Fox or use Facebook or Twitter.I’ve spent some time talking to Trump voters. The conversation goes like this:
Me: Why did you vote for Trump?
Them: Because of what happened in the last four years
Me: what happened? Inflation? That’s global. Immigration? There was a bipartisan bill to address that but Trump killed it so he could run on how only he could fix it.
Them: mumbles something
Me: don’t you care that Trump attempted a coup?
Them: that was a weak attempt
Me: I’m not talking about just Jan 6. I’m talking about all the prep for it and the phone calls to red states to get them to commit election fraud. I’m talking about a years long attempt to subvert democracy by intentionally sowing doubt about fair elections
Them : complete boredom. They don’t bother arguing this because they just don’t fucking care.
Them later: It’s all bullshit anyway. The elites control everything, they won’t let him do anything bad.
Me: if it’s all bullshit and the presidency is fake, why not vote against the candidate who quotes hitler? -
Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentI didn't pay attention to trumps messaging about this. Did he have an actual plan for reducing prices or lowering inflation? Does any republican have a plan for this? Is it just lowering taxes so...I didn't pay attention to trumps messaging about this. Did he have an actual plan for reducing prices or lowering inflation? Does any republican have a plan for this? Is it just lowering taxes so more so that rich people have 99% of the money instead of 90%? Tariffs are going to lower prices somehow? This is why I'm frustrated with voters. They always punish the incumbent when the economy has trouble without realizing they are making it much worse.
Yeah he's going to do what he's been doing since 2016, no shit. That's why reasonable people wanted him no where near any position of power.
Here was an entertaining article today:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/washington-shocked-trump-nominations/680703/
Summary is that the typical suspects are acting surprised by all the chaos and nonsense caused by Trump. As if they hadn't seen this same thing almost daily since 2016.
It's kind of a joke now, but there are things that can be done instead of feigning outrage. Republican Senators, if you are shocked and outraged, Impeach and convict his criminal ass. You can do it in January of February if you want, you don't have to wait months and act surprised as he continues to ignore convention and break laws.
Most entertaining thing from the Atlantic article is that the health care industry is going to get fucked by Trump too. Donors and supporters getting mauled by the face eating leopards will be my only source of political happiness for the next few years.