kovboydan's recent activity

  1. Comment on What "one-hit wonder" do you think has a discography worth exploring? in ~music

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    Sex and Candy is definitely one of the weakest songs on that album. I’m partial to Ancient Walls of Flowers but the whole album is good.

    Sex and Candy is definitely one of the weakest songs on that album. I’m partial to Ancient Walls of Flowers but the whole album is good.

  2. Comment on How a secret recording of a gender identity lecture upended Texas A&M in ~lgbt

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    It’s almost certainly ignorance. Many years ago I was a stats TA before law school. A student was struggling with z-scores, because they didn’t understand the difference between greater than and...

    It’s almost certainly ignorance. Many years ago I was a stats TA before law school. A student was struggling with z-scores, because they didn’t understand the difference between greater than and less than. The problem was solved with a YouTube video for children featuring alligators eating numbers.

    Anecdotes aside, most adults in the US are (partially) illiterate.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on Why do some gamers invert their controls? Scientists now have answers, but they’re not what you think. in ~games

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    Noise: There’s dozens of us! #BallMouseLyfe

    Noise: There’s dozens of us! #BallMouseLyfe

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    Politics doesn’t make us think in terms of teams. Some, possibly most, politicians promote that. Traditional media in the US post-Fairness Doctrine certainly encouraged it and social media has...

    Politics doesn’t make us think in terms of teams. Some, possibly most, politicians promote that. Traditional media in the US post-Fairness Doctrine certainly encouraged it and social media has accelerated it.

    But at the end of the day it’s individuals making the decision to view the world as binary - good vs bad, them vs us, etc - when the world isn’t that way at all.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Wu-Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck (1992) in ~music

    kovboydan
    Link
    This is a classic but the timing on posting it…

    This is a classic but the timing on posting it…

    4 votes

  6. Comment on People who contribute to libre projects - how do you find time for this? in ~hobbies

    kovboydan
    Link
    I just contribute when I happen to have the time, energy, and interest. There’s one project I’ve contributed to for about a decade, but I only look at bugs and submit PRs sporadically, over a few...

    I just contribute when I happen to have the time, energy, and interest. There’s one project I’ve contributed to for about a decade, but I only look at bugs and submit PRs sporadically, over a few days each year, when I happen to have time and energy.

    It usually starts with being bored and deciding to flip through issues/bug reports to flag duplicates or point out something can be marked closed because merge xyzxyz fixed it. Then when I don’t have the right amount of time, energy, and interest I disappear for another year.

    I’m team “contribute what you can, when you can.”

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Xbox Series X and S: Microsoft has reportedly sold less than 30 million consoles this generation in ~games

    kovboydan
    Link
    I like Xbox controllers better than PS controllers and I don’t pay attention to exclusives. So for the past 3 generations of xbox I’ve picked one up on sale mid-to-late-cycle. I could game on PC,...

    I like Xbox controllers better than PS controllers and I don’t pay attention to exclusives. So for the past 3 generations of xbox I’ve picked one up on sale mid-to-late-cycle.

    I could game on PC, I guess. But graphics cards are expensive and gaming on Linux wasn’t generally a fun, easy, or even workable experience back in the day. I won’t buy a license for Windows or use it at home, and Civ VI runs on the MacBook well enough.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    kovboydan
    Link
    Bleu Soleil x Luiza - Soleil Bleu. It’s like a super chill throwback to simpler times when tropical house was a thing. It’s not house, but has tropical vibes or whatever.

    Bleu Soleil x Luiza - Soleil Bleu. It’s like a super chill throwback to simpler times when tropical house was a thing. It’s not house, but has tropical vibes or whatever.

  9. Comment on Vancouver Whitecaps confirm signing of Thomas Müller in ~sports.football

  11. Comment on 'Sonny in LA' - Son Heung-min joins LAFC in Major League Soccer record deal in ~sports.football

    kovboydan
    Link
    This isn’t a surprise given the coverage the rumored deal had over the past week or two, but it is a big signing for a team that leans on a single player - Buoanga - every match as their only real...

    This isn’t a surprise given the coverage the rumored deal had over the past week or two, but it is a big signing for a team that leans on a single player - Buoanga - every match as their only real goal scoring threat.

    The Buoanga x Giroud pairing didn’t work as well as LAFC might have liked, but maybe this will.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on US Senate Democrats use obscure law to try to force the release of Jeffrey Epstein documents in ~society

  14. Comment on Where Major League Soccer truly stands after its Club World Cup awakening in ~sports.football

    kovboydan
    Link
    I was happy with how the MLS sides performed, especially given (1) the extreme difference in salaries between MLS and other leagues; and (2) that the three MLS sides in the Club World Cup are...

    For any team entering a global tournament that isn’t seen as a threat to contend, the prioritized side quest is to not be embarrassed. In a World Cup, each group’s minnow hopes to avoid what Thailand experienced against the U.S. women’s national team in 2019. Auckland City provided a perfect example, overcoming a brutal 10-0 thrashing in its opener against Bayern Munich to notch a famous draw against Boca Juniors in its final match.

    At a glance, MLS’s results leave a record with much to be desired: one win, three draws and six losses. In terms of competitiveness, however, the result shows a trio of teams that gave opponents a game almost every time. Lopsided results were largely absent. Before PSG routed Miami, only three of nine games saw an MLS team lose by two goals, and none by a greater margin.

    I was happy with how the MLS sides performed, especially given (1) the extreme difference in salaries between MLS and other leagues; and (2) that the three MLS sides in the Club World Cup are middle of the table teams domestically this year.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Give footnotes the boot in ~design

    kovboydan
    Link
    Tufte’s CSS with inline sidenotes on mobile and actual sidenotes if there’s enough width?

    Tufte’s CSS with inline sidenotes on mobile and actual sidenotes if there’s enough width?

    Sidenotes: Footnotes and Marginal Notes

    One of the most distinctive features of Tufte’s style is his extensive use of sidenotes. Sidenotes are like footnotes, except they don’t force the reader to jump their eye to the bottom of the page, but instead display off to the side in the margin. Perhaps you have noticed their use in this document already. You are very astute.

    Sidenotes are a great example of the web not being like print. On sufficiently large viewports, Tufte CSS uses the margin for sidenotes, margin notes, and small figures. On smaller viewports, elements that would go in the margin are hidden until the user toggles them into view. The goal is to present related but not necessary information such as asides or citations as close as possible to the text that references them. At the same time, this secondary information should stay out of the way of the eye, not interfering with the progression of ideas in the main text.

    Sidenotes consist of two elements: a superscript reference number that goes inline with the text, and a sidenote with content.

    9 votes

  17. Comment on I need advice, which laptop would you buy now? in ~tech

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop false in Terminal.app or iTerm2 for the folks who never want desktop icons.

    defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop false in Terminal.app or iTerm2 for the folks who never want desktop icons.

  18. Comment on I need advice, which laptop would you buy now? in ~tech

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    Cmd+` and Cmd+tab behavior are useful for me. I regularly close all windows of a program but not quit the program, e.g. Firefox, so I tab to the program and Cmd+N a new window. Unless Finder was...

    Cmd+` and Cmd+tab behavior are useful for me. I regularly close all windows of a program but not quit the program, e.g. Firefox, so I tab to the program and Cmd+N a new window.

    Unless Finder was the last used application, it wouldn’t be an issue in a quick Cmd+tab alternate between two programs situation. And if it’s a slower, hold Cmd+tab to another program situation, there’s a visual indicator of which program you’re selecting in the middle of the screen?

    Not sure I’ve ever inadvertently tabbed to Finder, but I guess it’s possible?

    If I do happen to have so many windows of a program open, 4+ probably, I tend to default to a three finger down swipe for app expose and select it, but there’s always ctrl+down as a keyboard shortcut that can be enabled in settings to open app expose. Ctrl+` cycles app expose through running programs. The arrow keys can be used to navigate to the window you want to open in app expose too, so you can open app expose and select a window with just the keyboard.

    TL;DR: Enable the app expose keyboard shortcut. If you’ve got more than a few windows open, use ctrl+down to open app expose and then use the arrow keys to select a window?

    2 votes

  19. Comment on I need advice, which laptop would you buy now? in ~tech

    kovboydan
    Link Parent
    I’ve used Spectacle now Rectangle forever-ish, so I don’t check as often as I should, but there seem to be more native features than I remember, like toggles for: and

    I’ve used Spectacle now Rectangle forever-ish, so I don’t check as often as I should, but there seem to be more native features than I remember, like toggles for:

    Hold ⌥ key while dragging windows to tile

    and

    Tiled windows have margins

  20. Comment on I need advice, which laptop would you buy now? in ~tech

    kovboydan
    Link
    If I’m looking for something stationary, like a home media server, I’ll build it myself and install Debian (or Arch sometimes). If I’m looking for a daily driver laptop? MacBook all day everyday....

    If I’m looking for something stationary, like a home media server, I’ll build it myself and install Debian (or Arch sometimes).

    If I’m looking for a daily driver laptop? MacBook all day everyday. The walled garden isn’t that walled. Download Xcode, install Brew, do what you want with the machine while not getting bogged down with gtk and qt themes clashing, worrying about whether the WiFi chipset is supported, etc. Really need linux running on it for some reason ? UTM is free and works pretty well.

    I went from a new at the time 2014 MacBook Pro to an M* model, thankfully missing some of the less performant/useable intel models, but I wouldn’t consider anything else at this point. Maybe a secondhand Thinkpad to repurpose for something specific?

    2 votes