knocklessmonster's recent activity
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Comment on Spotify lowers artist royalties despite subscription price hike in ~music
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Comment on Spotify lowers artist royalties despite subscription price hike in ~music
knocklessmonster Link ParentThe basic plan will not have audiobooks at all. The free account will still have ads.The basic plan will not have audiobooks at all. The free account will still have ads.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentI'll throw my hat in and say Fallout 1 is great once you get used to the gameplay which is, frankly, some of the easiest 90s crpg gameplay. I'm using some spoilers to help me not get stuck but it...I'll throw my hat in and say Fallout 1 is great once you get used to the gameplay which is, frankly, some of the easiest 90s crpg gameplay. I'm using some spoilers to help me not get stuck but it feels like you don't even need those if you have a notebook handy.
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Comment on Clothes shopping as a short & fat (trans) guy with narrow shoulders in ~life.style
knocklessmonster (edited )Linkif you can get Levi's reasonably keep am eye out for their 541, aka "athletic cut." They're cut bigger for the rear and taper down, have a bit of spandex to stretch and accommodate up a pant size...if you can get Levi's reasonably keep am eye out for their 541, aka "athletic cut." They're cut bigger for the rear and taper down, have a bit of spandex to stretch and accommodate up a pant size (2in) from their label. Check other brands for a similar style if you can't find these. I only wear stretchy jeans because while I may be fat I also like having full range of movement to squat and bend in jeans and slacks.
They're not a slim cut and I wear a 46/44 waste and buy a 42 with no issues.
I can't help with shirts. Fresh Clean Threads, who I've been buying from make larger sizes cut to be looser around the bottom than the top, which may suit narrower shoulders, however. I'm not sure aure about their shipping to Germany, but I like them well enough.
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Comment on Fellow hardline materialists, how do you "enchant" the world? in ~talk
knocklessmonster (edited )LinkOur ability to exist when we do is pretty darn magical. The probability of every single event aligning to this moment is basically an impossibility. I guess my point is our existence is magical...Our ability to exist when we do is pretty darn magical. The probability of every single event aligning to this moment is basically an impossibility.
I guess my point is our existence is magical enough. The base purposelessness of it is a side effect that our intelligence generally negates by trying to understand what we need to do to exist better, such as forming societies, developing them, etc. Nihilism never bothered me because to me purposelessness is the default state of existence, at least beyond the four Fs (feeding, fighting, fleeing and mating).
I think looking at the likelihood of a given outcome and the fact that something beat the odds is enough, and we won on a ton of gambles across billions of years.
This is real big picture stuff, but if you're thinking about the nature of existence you're already thinking on this scale, or at least on the road to it. In a sense I feel truly "enlightened" when I stop to think about the means by which we came to exist, and am filled with an existential glee when confronted with the notion that we never had a reason to exist, we are simply here and must do what we can with it. This "enlightenment" is separate from any metaphysical/philosophical systems I engage with, qnd more a strong sense of joy knowing my place as an insignificant speck in an uncaring universe, and that I exist despite living in a universe that is demonstrably averse to this outcome.
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Comment on How can I completely and permanently remove the ability to access the internet from a Debian derivative? in ~tech
knocklessmonster (edited )LinkRemove network-manager, dhclient, dhcpcd, wireless-tools (I believe) and wpa_supplicant. I believe they still provide ISOs for upgrades, so you still have that option.Remove network-manager, dhclient, dhcpcd, wireless-tools (I believe) and wpa_supplicant.
I believe they still provide ISOs for upgrades, so you still have that option.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentTTW requires a few mods that exist for FO3 to stabilize the engine, just a handful of FOSE plugins to tweak engine parameters, and ir should run just fine. FNV requires similar mods to not crash....TTW requires a few mods that exist for FO3 to stabilize the engine, just a handful of FOSE plugins to tweak engine parameters, and ir should run just fine. FNV requires similar mods to not crash.
TTW is "the more stable" way to play but is also quite different than vanilla FO3. I didnmy first FO3 run with it and it was pretty great though.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
knocklessmonster (edited )Link ParentI saw Tim Cain's vlog about the show premier and he admitted to Jonathan Nolan that he missed chunks of the show just looking at details, like vents in the vaults or the shop shelves in Filly. I...I saw Tim Cain's vlog about the show premier and he admitted to Jonathan Nolan that he missed chunks of the show just looking at details, like vents in the vaults or the shop shelves in Filly. I honestly caught myself doing it similarly.
I watched the first half again yesterday with my two brothers and SIL, and the SIL was the only other person to play any of the games and they all just liked how it's written. One of my brothers is looking to set up FO3, NV and 4 on his new Deck OLED, which I'm stoked about.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkI decided I'm going to get through Fallout 1, and shamelessly use guides to know what I'm doing. It's not a hard game, but it is internally under-documented with no useful quest journal to tell...I decided I'm going to get through Fallout 1, and shamelessly use guides to know what I'm doing. It's not a hard game, but it is internally under-documented with no useful quest journal to tell you where things are/track mission histories. It runs well enough on Proton in Steam (90s games are surprisingly robust on WINE/Proton), and my save sync'd so I'm just plugging forward for where I was after vault 15. I'm going to see about wrapping up the Replace the Water Chip quest in a few hours so I can get to the actual meat-and-potatoes Master quest. It plays surprisingly well, and I'm enjoying its revelations.
Fallout 3 and New Vegas are also back on the menu with minimal engine-level mods to keep them alive, since I haven' actually done a vanilla FO3 run. It runs at a nice 60FPS, which is great, and plays just fine. I did New Vegas similarly, but also hope to actually get into the DLC on these thoroughly (I did Broken Steel and The Pitt in FO3, but none of the FNV stuff aside from some GRA weapons).
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
knocklessmonster Link ParentI never considered that! A relatively well-connected group of talented comedians who are forced to adapt to ever-changing circumstances really summarizes both shows.t's the closest thing on US TV to Taskmaster, in my opinion
I never considered that! A relatively well-connected group of talented comedians who are forced to adapt to ever-changing circumstances really summarizes both shows.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
knocklessmonster LinkI just finished Fallout and... It was as close to a perfect show as anybody can expect it to be, in terms of it as an adaptation, and the plot they developed. I can't start to say anything about...I just finished Fallout and... It was as close to a perfect show as anybody can expect it to be, in terms of it as an adaptation, and the plot they developed. I can't start to say anything about it because I could easily geek out and spoil a bunch, but it was extremely impressive. On the rare occasion I figured something out a beat ahead of the show they did it better than I could've imagined it to be. Part of it is the appeal to a Fallout fan, but I sincerely hope this show can see a huge audience, it deserves it.
I'm getting caught up on Doctor Who and just wrapped up Capaldi's first season. He's been pretty great so far with his characterization. I also really like Michelle Gomez as Missy (but really in anything I've seen her in, which isn't much).
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Comment on Thinking about quitting the Internet in ~tech
knocklessmonster LinkThere was a thought I had when I first read this post and forgot to leave. I saw it float up a bit so I'll shoot my shot. The internet we were promised is out there, and it even exists under Big...There was a thought I had when I first read this post and forgot to leave. I saw it float up a bit so I'll shoot my shot.
The internet we were promised is out there, and it even exists under Big Tech. The biggest thing is a sense of community, whatever your involvement in a community, that makes things worth it.
When most people say "I want to quit the Internet," they want off the hamster wheel of service consumption, especiallly social media in its many forms from Instagram to Reddit.
I'm almost always online, but am also careful how I engage, typically avoiding the worst I find. I think Reddit is my "social network" mostly, since I only use Facebook for Messenger and LinkedIn to keep up professional appearances and check in on coworkers, and only engage in other online communities through Twitch stream chats. I haven't made the move back to the smaller internet of topic-specific boards or anything, but also feel that those weren't particularly good for me.
A major thing I would recommend is to just disengage when you aren't enjoying yourself. Again, I'm almost always in front of my computer, but I do things other than the Internet if that makes sense.
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Comment on Linux Distro Recommendations in ~comp
knocklessmonster Link ParentThe ChatGPT joke was more that it felt like a sales pitch than anything else. Any examples? Rootful distrobox can handle virtualization, and just about anything else can be containerized in a...The ChatGPT joke was more that it felt like a sales pitch than anything else.
Some things I've found have to be installed directly on the image as a layered application
Any examples? Rootful distrobox can handle virtualization, and just about anything else can be containerized in a distrobox. I use mine for real-time audio applications, for instance, but unfortunately haven't set up my hypervisor stuff yet.
A suggestion as well, which I missed here, is Distrobox, like the container technology it is built on, also has a manifest system which you can use to build out an environment with a simple command.
I haven't played much with layering and found Universal Blue's images to be perfect for avoiding it, especially since they include distrobox, proprietary firmware and even device-specific images, such as -surface and -framework builds (I have a Surface Go, and am aiming for a Framework this year).
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Comment on Amid marijuana legalization, a civic problem lingers: that smell in ~life
knocklessmonster Link ParentI was a little wide in my target with "public," but still stand by the main point where to a point we'll need to tolerate it, but there's a huge difference between "they've done everything they...I was a little wide in my target with "public," but still stand by the main point where to a point we'll need to tolerate it, but there's a huge difference between "they've done everything they can and I still smell it" or "they're walled up in their apartment and I get a whiff" and "blowing smoke into a crowd of people." In any negative context weed is significantly more annoying because it's more pungent, of course.
Designated spots like bars make sense, and I think even punishing inappropriate consumption like drinking alcohol in public wouldn't be the worst thing, since it's a pretty strong drug, impairs judgement, and definitely should not be something you're under the influence of while operating transport.
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Comment on Amid marijuana legalization, a civic problem lingers: that smell in ~life
knocklessmonster (edited )LinkAs a very part-time cannabis consumer, it's the same issue cigarettes have, and it comes to respect for your surroundings. A main reason I prefer edibles is the smell of weed is very strong. It's...As a very part-time cannabis consumer, it's the same issue cigarettes have, and it comes to respect for your surroundings. A main reason I prefer edibles is the smell of weed is very strong. It's not physically irritating to me like cigarette smoke somehow (unless I'm hitting myself), and I even enjoy the smell of good cannabis, but it's annoying to be chilling at home and smell my neighbor stepping out for a hit right outside my window, or somebody smoking a joint in the next complex's courtyard.
The issue is sort of two fold: We should be okay with its use in public if we tolerate cigarettes, but users should also be respectful of those around them: Take reasonable precautions to avoid stinking up your neighbor's place, don't blow smoke at passersby, etc. This isn't a "but cigarette smokers do this, too!" sort of thing, but a "all smokers have the same basic responsibility" thing.
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Comment on Linux Distro Recommendations in ~comp
knocklessmonster (edited )Link ParentHopefully I can explain this. I tried to switch everything to NixOS for a bit, but couldn't get it on my second-hand 2012 Macbook Pro. I didn't even intend to use Fedora Atomic, but was able to...Hopefully I can explain this. I tried to switch everything to NixOS for a bit, but couldn't get it on my second-hand 2012 Macbook Pro. I didn't even intend to use Fedora Atomic, but was able to accomplish what I wanted with it easier than NixOS.
Declarative syntax:
Fedora Atomic: Fedora Atomic images (for Desktop and Server) are confgured via declarative configurations which are then built into system images by a CI system. Most users won't go this deep on Fedora Atomic.
NixOS: NixOS is purely configured via its declarative language.
Atomic Updates: There are no partial upgrades. The Nix transaction or RPM rebase worked or you go back to the last usable state. Similarly, if it somehow breaks and the image is unbootable, you have the previous, or whichever pinned states you want to revert to (rpm-ostree does this for sure, but I believe Nix does?)
Differences:
Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard:
Fedora Atomic: Fully compliant with FHS, libraries sit just where they need to, anything like statically compiled apps and appimages work out of the box.
Nix: You can create FHS-compliant environments (i've never done this), but they aren't a thing OOTB.
"Image" building:
Fedora Atomic: You create a manifest, send it to a code repo connected to a CI system, build it, upload it to a repository like ghcr.io or quay.io
NixOS: typically you'll submit your build script to nixpkgs who build it centrally. CI builds the package, you define it in your configuration.nix.
Fedora Atomic has a recent benefit of the Universal Blue (uBlue) project, which aims to create a community around Fedora Atomic with customized images, and a straightforward process to build your own. This basically allows you to have what you need in a core system and then have Flatpak and containerized mutable installs elsewhere. A major benefit of even uBlue's base images is they include graphics and wifi drivers. These aren't recommended, generally, in favor of user-oriented images like the flagship Bluefin, Aurora or Bazzite. These also aren't discrete distros, but Fedora Atomic images, which can also be grabbed like so, using bazzite as an example:
rpm-ostree ostree-unverified-registry:docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite:latest # or to go back to Silverblue rpm-ostree ostree-unverified-registry:docker://quay.io/fedora/fedora-silverblue:stableYou could run the above from a Fedora Silverblue install and basically have a new distro. System updates work the same way, such as what I did from Bluefin 38 to 39:
rpm-ostree ostree-image-signed:docker:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin:latestThe above is like upgrading nix-channel to the latest version, running
nix-channel update, andnixos-rebuild switch. In the previous example we pulled unsigned images, you could then run the above command on those images to have signed versions, which is heavily recommended. Once you're on a "side," uBlue or Silverblue, you can get signed images from that side.Universal Blue was started as a community initiative to encourage building custom images. My only complaint is I legitimately do not have a need to build one.
Living in both
Living in both of these is fairly similar. I don't mean to be opinionated about your approach to this at all, but this is what I would do, and have in Fedora:
Declare what you need
Send to integration (Fedora Atomic: Github/Quay, NixOS, your system, in the sense of "package management"). NixOS is closer to the traditional model, in that package management is part of the system. NixOS lets you just add things to your system. To do similar on a Fedora Atomic system you'd have to layer packages, which is totally fine, but can require a little cleanup before re-basing.Create a container,
Usingtoolboxin Fedora,distroboxortoolboxin a uBlue image, or plain old docker or podman if you desire, and anything available in NixOS. Install apps, carry out tasks.Immutability
I don't have much here but there are two different approaches to "immutability" for different targets:
Fedora Atomic is an immutable system. Yes, you declaratively create the system as a dockerfile to build the OCI container that contains the system, but on your drive as your host OS you cannot modify it significantly with the use of rpm-ostree to layer packages. I can't
touch /usr/lib/testbecause I do not have permission to write there.NixOS's major goals are reproducibility and being declarative. I could modify the system on this go-round, but the change would not persist to the next rebuild if I modified any files that are contained in packages. Ideally those configurations would be configurable in configuration.nix anyway.
I think if you're fine with NixOS, you can use distrobox to rough out any rough corners you have with software, like Ubuntu-specific stuff, etc. Even the NixOS community wouldn't give you any guff for it (most chill, helpful community I've seen in FOSS next to BTRFS, I think). From a practical perspective I think both systems reach a similar goal via vastly different means.
EDIT: This reads like ChatGPT output, and it's kinda top-level. I spent last week deep-diving on it to find sore spots and sort of feel like something of an evangelist at this point. NixOS and Fedora Atomic are now my two favorite things happening.
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Comment on Eclipse plans in ~talk
knocklessmonster (edited )LinkI live in southern California, so I just poked a hole in a paper plate and projected it on another, went "cool," and went inside. EDIT: My region is relevant because I was never going to see a...I live in southern California, so I just poked a hole in a paper plate and projected it on another, went "cool," and went inside.
EDIT: My region is relevant because I was never going to see a total eclipse, but did see what I could, which was cool enough.
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Comment on Does the Dog Die? - A website for filtering movies by triggers in ~movies
knocklessmonster Link ParentThat's definitely useful as an approach if you're trying to look for markers determining how much you should invest in a property.That's definitely useful as an approach if you're trying to look for markers determining how much you should invest in a property.
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Comment on Does the Dog Die? - A website for filtering movies by triggers in ~movies
knocklessmonster LinkAs a response to your comment this site has been around a long time. I don't find it particularly useful because there isn't much in media that will rattle me, but I totally get why people would...As a response to your comment this site has been around a long time. I don't find it particularly useful because there isn't much in media that will rattle me, but I totally get why people would want to avoid certain content. I don't pay attention to content warnings for my previously listed reason, but totally understand why one would if certain things put somebody well past what I would consider "consenting severe discomfort," and see a general value in a tool like this.
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Comment on What AI tools are you actually using? in ~tech
knocklessmonster LinkI use Bing Copilot as a programming assistant for scripts and looking up errors. It saves me a ton of time and allows me to work while still learning what I need to for my job (I try to write...I use Bing Copilot as a programming assistant for scripts and looking up errors. It saves me a ton of time and allows me to work while still learning what I need to for my job (I try to write stuff out first then ask).
I know people are using it for emails and stuff, but I'd rather mess up a communication on my own than have one written on my behalf by an AI. Not for any weird strongly ideological positions, but I feel if I have AI writing my emails for me, even if I edit them, that's not really me communicating with colleagues or clients and it just feels wrong.
From Variety, it looks like there'll be Free, Premium, and Premium + Audio Books, which will see the change.
The current model offers 15 hours of audio books per month, and extra money needed to go beyond, so it looks like they just want to shift to cash up front for people who want audiobooks.
The new tier is separate from the royalty change which is its own bad decision, for artists at least.