kru's recent activity
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Comment on USA: Metrics for a presidential report card in ~society
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Comment on Do not fix bugs reported in your open source projects in ~comp
kru LinkI'd only support this position if the quality of the codebase was such that the time which it takes for me to grok the codebase and fix the issue is comparable to the time it takes the developer...I'd only support this position if the quality of the codebase was such that the time which it takes for me to grok the codebase and fix the issue is comparable to the time it takes the developer with his back-of-my-hand knowledge of the codebase to fix it. In other words, I don't want to spend 20 hours understanding spaghetti to do what the developer could do in 30 seconds.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kru Link Parent300 hours? You're almost done with the tutorial!300 hours? You're almost done with the tutorial!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kru Link ParentI've only played one game on the default settings to learn the mechanics. I enjoyed it. The mechanic whereby workers build improvements to city tiles, which can then be staffed by citizens is great.I've only played one game on the default settings to learn the mechanics. I enjoyed it. The mechanic whereby workers build improvements to city tiles, which can then be staffed by citizens is great.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kru LinkI installed Old World and played a game over the weekend. It's a civ-like 4x. Imagine taking the early era of civ and stretching it out into an entire game, and adding a dose of Crusader Kings...I installed Old World and played a game over the weekend. It's a civ-like 4x. Imagine taking the early era of civ and stretching it out into an entire game, and adding a dose of Crusader Kings personnel/family management. One of the top steam reviews calls it civ for geniuses and that's not far off the mark. It's super fiddly and micromanagey, way moreso than the latest civ games, but I enjoy that sort of stuff.
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Comment on Ten years ago, one of the uber-wealthy predicted "the pitchforks are coming for us" in ~society
kru Link ParentI'm not sure that's entirely true. Often rebellions are fomented by people with a modest wealth themselves, who either agree with the cause and/or have something to gain from the action in their...I'm not sure that's entirely true. Often rebellions are fomented by people with a modest wealth themselves, who either agree with the cause and/or have something to gain from the action in their own right. Other times, lower-class revolts can be catalyzed by opportunity, in addition to high levels of need and suffering. What I mean is, you might not think, "Yep, I'm a rebel now," but things will happen and you'll agree with them, and then more things will happen, and you'll agree with them, and then, at some point, you'll realize that you crossed the line without realizing it. A lot of group associations occur like this.
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Comment on US satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families in ~society
kru Link ParentI wonder if that is even possible. When Fox News began airing some pro-establishment Republican and anti-Trump stories, people went even further into the right wing rabbit hole of OANN and other...I wonder if that is even possible. When Fox News began airing some pro-establishment Republican and anti-Trump stories, people went even further into the right wing rabbit hole of OANN and other more extreme, fringe outlets. I suspect that altruistic attempts to deprogram people by usurping their media diet and feeding them reality would have to be an exceptionally long and subtle strategy.
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Comment on I've added ~society for topics related to politics, law, policies, and similar societal-level subjects in ~tildes.official
kru LinkI might be one of those users who shows up in your "Never uses tag filtering" query. I know it exists, but I don't want to use it. I want to see all of the posts. There isn't enough content on...the large majority of users don't use [the tags filtering feature] (or even seem to know it exists)
I might be one of those users who shows up in your "Never uses tag filtering" query. I know it exists, but I don't want to use it. I want to see all of the posts. There isn't enough content on Tildes, yet, to make filters necessary for me.
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Comment on Satisfactory tips and tricks? in ~games
kru LinkRandom things I missed during my first 100 hours of the game: Read those instructions on the bottom of the screen while placing objects/belts! Many of the things you can build have alternate build...Random things I missed during my first 100 hours of the game:
Read those instructions on the bottom of the screen while placing objects/belts!
Many of the things you can build have alternate build modes. For instance, Zoop mode makes laying out foundations a breeze (I spent ~60 hours doing them one by one). Belts have an alternate build mode that tries to follow right-angles, which vastly reduces spaghetti and makes things more pleasing (to me, at least). Pipes have a nice horizontal-to-vertical mode that also helps.Pipe junctions can be placed on the ceilings. I like to place the junctions first, then connect them up with pipes to keep my pipes neat and organized.
If you have to craft things by hand, which can be a faster way to produce some late-game parts, then just tap the spacebar. You don't need to hold down the mouse or spacebar to craft multiple items manually.
Rails convey electricity, which is useful for a late-game item that requires being in powered areas.
You can copy/paste settings between machines. The copy includes details such as power shards and overclock settings.
I used the decoration mode to color-code my factories. (e.g. I made my plastic producing refineries blue, and my rubber producing refineries red so I could quickly tell which were which - very important in multiplayer games where I am not the only one placing things down!)
Looking at a pipe while building a pump will show a little ghost animation showing how much head pressure the pump will produce, which is how far up it can push the liquid. If you're building a second pump on a pipeline which already has a pump, there will be a little ghost element where you can snap your new pump to to maximize the head pressure distance.
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Comment on Who is allowed to practice identity politics? in ~society
kru LinkThe idea that incumbent wins are down across the board is not unsatisfying at all. In fact, it's super interesting. It raises many questions and a desire to probe deeper. Why were incumbent...The idea that incumbent wins are down across the board is not unsatisfying at all. In fact, it's super interesting. It raises many questions and a desire to probe deeper. Why were incumbent parties universally despised this term? Are there universal reasons? How much is related to post-pandemic issues? How much is related to actual economic issues (outside of those directly caused by the pandemic)? How much is caused by internal societal issues (Brexit in the UK, Subsidies in Germany, Inflation in the US)? How much is caused by dis/misinformation?
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Comment on How Fallout's Timothy Cain would make the worst RPG ever in ~games
kru LinkHere are the bulleted notes I took while watching: Unskippable cinematic (unpausable, too) Initial character creation is number heavy with very little explanation (e.g. range of attributes goes...Here are the bulleted notes I took while watching:
- Unskippable cinematic (unpausable, too)
- Initial character creation is number heavy with very little explanation
(e.g. range of attributes goes from 0 - 1000 with no explanation) - Attributes can never be changed after initial creation
(even with items or temporary buffs) - No respec
- Many aspects of the player's character can't be set at all
-name
-gender
-background
-appearance
-voice - The player's character is a cultural outlier
(e.g. playing an unusually tall dwarf named whackadoo) - None of the important story elements can be changed or altered by the player's decisions
- None of the mechanics mesh with the story
- The effectiveness of the character's actions are based on real player ability, not character skill
- aiming is done manually
- blocking is timing based, and skills have no effect
- Minigames for everything (also based on player ability, not character)
-disarming traps
-picking locks
-haggling
-etc - Minigames are inaccessible and difficult
-color-based minigames
-math-based minigames
-time-sensitive minigames - Stealth is typical (stay in dark and hidden behind objects)
BUT
stealth has no UI element to indicate to the player where their attention is focused - Useless perk choices
-e.g A perk increases the character's armor class while they are hidden and untargetable - Some character builds can't finish the game
- Actions can be taken while playing that prevent the game from being finished
- Critical quest items can be sold or lost/destroyed
- Storyline is completely linear
- Player choices aren't going to matter
-they might seem like they matter, but they don't
-all dialogue choices lead to the same ultimate outcome
-all quest choices lead to the same ultimate outcome - Big unskippable cinematic right before challenging encounters
- Lots of exposition to explain the story in these cinematics
I get that he's having a bit of fun. Also, I generally agree with Tim Cain's philosophy on what makes RPGs great. However, he is, perhaps inadvertently, saying that many JRPGs are making bad decisions as they often have fixed player characters with sometimes unusual backgrounds and very linear stories that offer very little player agency outside of combats. But, I love JRPGs, too, and wouldn't suggest that they're bad RPGs just because they don't offer the same amount of player choice and agency that your Fallouts and Planescape Torments do.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kru Link ParentI hated Gleba. It was one of the worst experiences I've had in a game. I don't understand how it could be offered as one of the first tier choices for space exploration. Honestly, it should be the...I hated Gleba. It was one of the worst experiences I've had in a game. I don't understand how it could be offered as one of the first tier choices for space exploration. Honestly, it should be the final planet before shooting for the edge of space.
I was all primed for another attempt at playing through space age, with the goal of getting some of those speedy achievements, but the thought of having to redo gleba makes that a non-starter. It's the worst thing Factorio has ever done.
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Comment on New experimental evidence shows lack of employment effects of guaranteed income in ~finance
kru LinkSo, the study has shown that people who receive UBI did not see any improvement in the quality of their employment, but did decrease their labor participation rate by about 2%. The way that I read...So, the study has shown that people who receive UBI did not see any improvement in the quality of their employment, but did decrease their labor participation rate by about 2%. The way that I read this is that this UBI study didn't create better jobs for participants, nor encourage them to find better ones, but it did let the participants spend less time toiling at a shitty job and spend more time living their life.
Is this not the outcome that we want? As automation makes human labor less necessary, we want people to spend less time toiling and more time enjoying life.
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Comment on Problems of scale: How to get a better grasp on numbers? in ~talk
kru LinkI've thought a bit about this from time to time. It's interesting to me. Humans struggle with non-linearity, both in terms of magnitude of scale and magnitude of change (ie exponential change...I've thought a bit about this from time to time. It's interesting to me. Humans struggle with non-linearity, both in terms of magnitude of scale and magnitude of change (ie exponential change being difficult to naturally intuit).
I think one of the driving factors of this is the way that most of us are initially taught numbers. We're introduced to larger numbers via an exponential scale (the 10's digits), but have them drawn out in a very linear fashion on a blackboard. We see that the difference between 10 and 100 is just another zero, and zero is the smallest number there is. 10 and 1000 is only two zeroes apart. It's understandable that we might mistakenly intuit that larger numbers are closer together than they truly are.
Just to drive the point home. When seeing them on a blackboard for the first time, the difference between 1 and 1,000 is just 3 zeroes. The difference between a 1,000,000 and a 1,000,000,000 is also just 3 zeroes. So, really, how far apart can they be? Right?
It's similar to how we show kids pictures of our solar system with Jupiter and Saturn barely an inch away from each other, and the Earth about half the diameter of the sun, and so forth. It's valuable to have all of that information presented in a clean visual package, so a kid can learn about the planets and Earth's place in the order. But it definitely does skew the perception of just how vastly far apart everything is in reality.
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Comment on ‘SNL’ debut cast and crew look back on fifty seasons in ~tv
kru Link Parentsnl did always feel like it needed to appeal to a broad audience to keep the advertising flowing in. Other shows like In Living Color, The State, MadTV or Kids in the Hall certainly had more of a...snl did always feel like it needed to appeal to a broad audience to keep the advertising flowing in. Other shows like In Living Color, The State, MadTV or Kids in the Hall certainly had more of a "we don't care if you like our show or not, this is good stuff" vibe.
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Comment on PC players must now install BattlEye anticheat to play GTA Online. Steam Deck and Linux users are locked out. in ~games
kru Link ParentWe are hurtling towards a glorious future where we will all install company-sanctioned rootkits for the privilege of playing single-player content.We are hurtling towards a glorious future where we will all install company-sanctioned rootkits for the privilege of playing single-player content.
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Comment on Y2K | Official trailer in ~movies
kru Link ParentWhy is this? I've been getting knocked down and getting back up since the late 90s. Tubthumping took the early filesharing my storm, at least it did with my peer group. I probably still have...Not so sure about the soundtrack — Tubthumping seems like a weird choice for an American teen party setting
Why is this? I've been getting knocked down and getting back up since the late 90s. Tubthumping took the early filesharing my storm, at least it did with my peer group. I probably still have screenshots lying around some old hd of my win95 desktop with that song on the winamp playlist.
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Comment on "A total of 203,946 employees have been laid off across more than 165 tech companies worldwide since the start of 2024, with firms such as Dell, Intel, and Tesla leading the cuts" in ~tech
kru Link ParentFake job postings are definitely a thing. Being interviewed and then passed over is also quite common right now, because it's a "buyer's market" so to speak for companies. Companies can afford to...Fake job postings are definitely a thing.
Being interviewed and then passed over is also quite common right now, because it's a "buyer's market" so to speak for companies. Companies can afford to wait for the ideal candidate, and so aren't as willing to bite on someone who they'd have previously offered without hesitation. Because the available talent pool is so much larger, hiring managers are being extra choosy.
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Comment on Help! I need a new fridge (and microwave). in ~life.home_improvement
kru LinkOne thing to bear in mind, you say that you live in an apartment. If you're renting or leasing, verify that replacing the refrigerator is actually your responsibility and not the landlord's...One thing to bear in mind, you say that you live in an apartment. If you're renting or leasing, verify that replacing the refrigerator is actually your responsibility and not the landlord's responsibility. Often, large appliances come with the apartment and are owned by the landlord. You wouldn't want to pay thousands of dollars for an appliance that you can't or won't bring with you when you move out. Also, the landlord might not appreciate a replacement appliance that is of lower quality than the original.
So, if you're renting this place, definitely get in touch with your landlord asap as it is the landlord's responsibility to fix the leaking, and also repair any damage that might be caused by it.
You're probably aware of this, but just in case you're not, I don't want you to make an expensive mistake.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.style
kru Link ParentThat hat is awesome and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.That hat is awesome and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
A lot of these can be obtained from the fred, which is an economic data tracker run by the federal reserve. It's all out in the open. Pick some charts that align with the type of data you'd want to track, then mark the inauguration dates.
Inflation
Total Public Debt
Unemployment Rate
GDP
Literacy Rate (I had to go to the world bank to get the US stats on this)
Poverty
Gas Price
Salaries (There's so many different ways to track this)
Savings