kej's recent activity

  1. Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk

    kej
    Link Parent
    It's on my list but I haven't gotten to it yet. Is there a spoiler-free way you can tell me what the red letter connection is in Blue Prince?

    It's on my list but I haven't gotten to it yet. Is there a spoiler-free way you can tell me what the red letter connection is in Blue Prince?

  2. Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk

    kej
    Link Parent
    I've heard of pastors having their congregants get angry if they preach about the beatitudes. It reminds me of how some people interpreted NPR's reading/tweeting the Declaration of Independence on...

    I've heard of pastors having their congregants get angry if they preach about the beatitudes. It reminds me of how some people interpreted NPR's reading/tweeting the Declaration of Independence on July 4th as an attack on Donald Trump.

    7 votes

  3. Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk

  4. Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk

    kej
    Link
    Some of the letters were in red, so they seemed important.

    Some of the letters were in red, so they seemed important.

    8 votes

  5. Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp

    kej
    Link
    There is a very recent fork of Zed that removes the AI features and the telemetry, if those are things you'd rather do without: https://gram.liten.app/docs/mission/

    There is a very recent fork of Zed that removes the AI features and the telemetry, if those are things you'd rather do without: https://gram.liten.app/docs/mission/

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Dox with Grok in ~tech

    kej
    Link
    For an old account of mine, it noticed a similarity in account names with someone else's account on some other website, and then went completely off the rails chasing leads from that other site....

    For an old account of mine, it noticed a similarity in account names with someone else's account on some other website, and then went completely off the rails chasing leads from that other site. It was trying to reconstruct that other person's family tree based on drama in their Mormon church, going so far as to search obituaries to find related names. It would have been impressive in its thoroughness if it hadn't gone down the completely wrong track in the first place. My stupid old posts remain anonymous, at least for now.

    7 votes

  7. Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books

    kej
    Link Parent
    My school library had the first one as a kid in the Denver area, just as another data point for you.

    My school library had the first one as a kid in the Denver area, just as another data point for you.

  8. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    kej
    Link
    While waiting for the next book in the Pillars of the Earth series (even though I'm pretty sure it will follow the same "guy who can solve any problem takes longer to solve societal problem that...

    While waiting for the next book in the Pillars of the Earth series (even though I'm pretty sure it will follow the same "guy who can solve any problem takes longer to solve societal problem that keeps him from love interest" pattern as the others) I picked up The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. I'm only a little way in but enjoying it so far.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    kej
    Link Parent
    Idle curiosity: which e-reader model did you get?

    Idle curiosity: which e-reader model did you get?

  10. Comment on Tildes Book Club - January 2026 - Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson in ~books

    kej
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I think this would have been better as two (or more) separate books. An epistolary novel about the 1850s through the 1870s would have been amazing, and then I would have happily read the rest of...

    I think this would have been better as two (or more) separate books. An epistolary novel about the 1850s through the 1870s would have been amazing, and then I would have happily read the rest of the series leading up to the 1900s and beyond. Trying to mix them together made both parts feel cluttered, in my opinion.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Tildes Book Club - January 2026 - Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson in ~books

    kej
    Link Parent
    Apologies for dropping in a month late, but I wanted to touch on this: I read this right after To Kill a Mockingbird (which I managed to miss when everyone read it in high school), and it stood...

    Apologies for dropping in a month late, but I wanted to touch on this:

    One thing I kept forgetting was that the (great) great grandfather was writing about when he was twelve years old. I think I repeatedly forgot this because he didn’t sound like a twelve-year-old (because he’s writing as an older man) and because so many of the things he did felt more grown up than twelve. It also wasn’t entirely clear how much time had or hadn’t passed between sections, so sometimes I ended up thinking he was older than he was until I was reminded again of his age.

    I read this right after To Kill a Mockingbird (which I managed to miss when everyone read it in high school), and it stood out how well Harper Lee makes the "reminiscing" style of writing work by having the narration sound like an adult but all of the dialog sound like a child. That same trick would have worked really well here, I think.

    3 votes

  12. Comment on What are important historical books lost to time? in ~books

  13. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    kej
    Link Parent
    As a software developer but not specifically a game developer, C++ is generally considered a more challenging language to learn, especially if it's your first, but that doesn't make it bad or...

    As a software developer but not specifically a game developer, C++ is generally considered a more challenging language to learn, especially if it's your first, but that doesn't make it bad or anything. Especially with AI agents that can answer "why doesn't this code work?" instantly, it's definitely possible to be successful on that path. Maybe the extent of my advice is that if you find yourself getting frustrated or not being able to get the tools to do what you want, try different tools before giving up on the project. Looking forward to the "Check out this game I made!" post in the future.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    kej
    Link Parent
    Idle curiosity: why Unreal and C++? That seems a little like jumping into the deep end of game development. My understanding is that Unreal protects you from some of C++'s rough edges, but it...

    Idle curiosity: why Unreal and C++? That seems a little like jumping into the deep end of game development. My understanding is that Unreal protects you from some of C++'s rough edges, but it still seems like an uncommon choice for someone who doesn't already know C++ or have other game experience. (Not a bad choice, or anything, I'm just curious about how you came to it.)

    4 votes

  15. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    kej
    Link Parent
    It's a little more expensive, but FYI tesseract.cat is available (as of a few minutes ago).

    It's a little more expensive, but FYI tesseract.cat is available (as of a few minutes ago).

    1 vote

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

    kej
    Link
    I'm a sucker for a good picross/nonogram game, and lately I have fallen into Voxelgram. I was skeptical of how well a nonogram would work in 3D, but the presentation and controls end up working...

    I'm a sucker for a good picross/nonogram game, and lately I have fallen into Voxelgram. I was skeptical of how well a nonogram would work in 3D, but the presentation and controls end up working really well (both mouse and Steam Deck).

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX will prioritize a city on the moon instead of a colony on Mars in ~space

    kej
    Link Parent
    Those look good and weren't on my radar, thanks for the suggestion!

    Those look good and weren't on my radar, thanks for the suggestion!

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX will prioritize a city on the moon instead of a colony on Mars in ~space

    kej
    Link
    Kind of related, but I'm part way through A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith and it makes a really interesting case that the tech enthusiasts are overlooking a bunch of very real...

    Kind of related, but I'm part way through A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith and it makes a really interesting case that the tech enthusiasts are overlooking a bunch of very real problems that still exist for any kind of long term space mission, let alone colonization.

    13 votes

  19. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    kej
    Link Parent
    I am on a mission to inform people that she revisited Earthsea and it hasn't been a trilogy for a while. There are two more novels and a collection of short stories waiting for you.

    I am on a mission to inform people that she revisited Earthsea and it hasn't been a trilogy for a while. There are two more novels and a collection of short stories waiting for you.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    kej
    Link Parent
    Supposedly Eco wrote Foucault's Pendulum as a reaction to critics who complained about there being too many obscure references in The Name of the Rose, and I agree that the obscure references get...

    Supposedly Eco wrote Foucault's Pendulum as a reaction to critics who complained about there being too many obscure references in The Name of the Rose, and I agree that the obscure references get in the way of what would otherwise be a really good story. His later Numero Zero did a much better job of linking together conspiracies without becoming overwhelming.

    4 votes