luka's recent activity

  1. Comment on The founders of this new Arkansas development say you must be white to live there in ~life

    luka
    Link Parent
    I was thinking the same. At least they disappear into their little corner

    I was thinking the same. At least they disappear into their little corner

    4 votes

  2. Comment on FK Bodø/Glimt booked their place in the main draw of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history – secured a 6-2 aggregate victory over Sturm Graz in ~sports.football

    luka
    Link
    I think all three teams that qualified yesterday are first timers, the others being Pafos from Cyprus and Kairat from Kazakhstan. While Cyprus had teams in the UCL before, I'm pretty sure...

    I think all three teams that qualified yesterday are first timers, the others being Pafos from Cyprus and Kairat from Kazakhstan. While Cyprus had teams in the UCL before, I'm pretty sure Kazakhstan never did, and Kairat defeated Celtic to enter!

    The appearance of Central Asian nations on the football map is great to see, with Kazakhstan making it into the Euro playoffs, and Uzbekistan even qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. I would be interested to know the story behind this, I know the latter has been one of Asia's stronger teams for some time now.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on How to get a backpack sold by Decathlon in EU to the US? in ~life.style

    luka
    Link
    I once tried to ship a slightly over 2kg package to the US from Hungary and the local postal service would have charged €60-70 to ship it. Maybe it's cheaper from the UK but anecdotally the...

    I once tried to ship a slightly over 2kg package to the US from Hungary and the local postal service would have charged €60-70 to ship it. Maybe it's cheaper from the UK but anecdotally the €80-100 are realistic together with the proxy company's markup.

    I'm curious if you'll find a cheaper option though!

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Spotify is adding direct messaging to their music streaming app in ~tech

    luka
    Link Parent
    Just to add, @nastharl, connections between client and server are effectively always encrypted in everything you use through TLS (e.g. what makes up the S in HTTPS)

    Just to add, @nastharl, connections between client and server are effectively always encrypted in everything you use through TLS (e.g. what makes up the S in HTTPS)

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Most people, even highly technical people, don't understand anything about AI in ~tech

    luka
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    That's a good point, workflows are still in the process of crystallizing so the way to learn is more informal (i.e. finding someone to show you how they work, trial and error). While that's...

    I'd be looking for ways to pair-program with people who know what they're doing.

    That's a good point, workflows are still in the process of crystallizing so the way to learn is more informal (i.e. finding someone to show you how they work, trial and error). While that's interesting to the people willing to explore these tools, the skeptics will stay in the "AI tools are useless" camp without a clear path.

    Reading up on how to program with AI tools, discussions mostly boil down to different comments saying "I've had success with this model doing architecture, that model doing debugging" using one of a few VSCode-based IDEs. That's not particularly accessible.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk

    luka
    Link Parent
    I'm the same. I can sleep almost immediately even under the effect of stimulants, and sleep through the night. What ruins it is the bed talk when I'm in the process of falling asleep. I'm...

    I'm the same. I can sleep almost immediately even under the effect of stimulants, and sleep through the night. What ruins it is the bed talk when I'm in the process of falling asleep.

    I'm unfortunately currently not in the habit of meditating, but when I have practice anxiety doesn't stop me either. I struggle more with waking up at night, and getting agitated about things like the fall of the Byzantine Empire.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk

    luka
    Link Parent
    That's actually something that happens. Washing machines adjust the timing based on the load.

    which makes me think it takes longer than it says on the display but whatever.

    That's actually something that happens. Washing machines adjust the timing based on the load.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on As Denmark takes over the rotating EU Council presidency from Poland, it's hitting pause on one beloved tradition – the national Spotify playlist in ~music

    luka
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Daniel Ek, the CEO, invested in weapons manufacture. With the current global situation I don't believe it's unethical.

    Daniel Ek, the CEO, invested in weapons manufacture.

    With the current global situation I don't believe it's unethical.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Question about REST APIS and encryption in ~tech

    luka
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Not to scare you away, but I don't recommend Angular for learning front end. It's strongly opinionated and makes things convoluted by wanting to handle everything by itself. It has inferior...

    Not to scare you away, but I don't recommend Angular for learning front end. It's strongly opinionated and makes things convoluted by wanting to handle everything by itself. It has inferior tooling and a worse debugging experience than other frameworks too.

    I recommend React or Vue (esp the former if you want to get into React Native). They support TypeScript out of the box too.

    That said, if you want to just give it a try then feel free! It's just not the best tool for the job unless you're a fierce believer in OOP.

    4 votes

  10. Comment on How do you celebrate your birthday? in ~talk

    luka
    Link Parent
    Is it a cultural thing not to just ask them to leave? I communicate fairly directly that I want to go to sleep and kick them out, I think it's a reasonable thing to do.

    Is it a cultural thing not to just ask them to leave? I communicate fairly directly that I want to go to sleep and kick them out, I think it's a reasonable thing to do.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on Finland's obsession with saunas is going global – what does science say about the claimed health benefits? in ~health

    luka
    Link Parent
    Probably not, given the lower heart rate etc is obviously also present when you use saunas at 85C without splashing water on rocks, especially when you consider that people using saunas in Central...

    Are they in fact only paying for a placebo treatment?

    Probably not, given the lower heart rate etc is obviously also present when you use saunas at 85C without splashing water on rocks, especially when you consider that people using saunas in Central Europe have less exposure and tolerance to them than Finns. Seeing Finns talk about saunas is a bit like Indians talking about spicy food. It's relative to an extent.

    I'd be curious about research comparing Finnish saunas to 'rest of the world' ones though.

    16 votes

  12. Comment on Hungarian government submits law preparing to crack down on independent press and NGOs in ~society

    luka
    Link
    As Hungary is taking its last steps in its transition into total authoritarianism, the parliament – controlled by Viktor Orbán's Fidesz with a supermajority since 2010 – is preparing to submit a...

    As Hungary is taking its last steps in its transition into total authoritarianism, the parliament – controlled by Viktor Orbán's Fidesz with a supermajority since 2010 – is preparing to submit a law seeking to cripple the opposition under the guise of sovereignty, by punishing entities who have received funding from foreign actors. This includes almost all popular independent media, including the largest news sites 444.hu, telex.hu, and 24.hu, who have received funding through transparent EU grants or things like USAID.

    This is happening in the backdrop of Mr. Orbán's party slowly losing its grip on power as it faces a continuously surging opposition party in Tisza, who according to some polls have a double-digit lead over Fidesz.

    In my opinion, this is the ruling party panicking and going all-out in trying to suppress the opposition. While it's still realistic that they will win the elections next year, they're piling up scandals as trust in them is steadily eroding.

    This is what happens if you let right-wing populists to power.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on Business idea and feedback thread in ~talk

    luka
    Link Parent
    I think there have been a lot of attempts at this, one of the more successful ones I'm aware of being Blindmate.

    Dating app which aims to address the flaws of its enshittified competition (egregious monetization, men being ignored, women being inundated with creepy messages, etc.) Something with user verification standards to deter fake/fraudulent users, an algorithm that rewards the user for having conversations, more stringent house rules, a decent messaging system that actually discourages people from taking conversations to third-party apps from its sheer quality. I had thought of a system where you could leave reviews of your dating experiences with other users, but this would have been ripe for abuse and would have been a content moderation nightmare.

    I think there have been a lot of attempts at this, one of the more successful ones I'm aware of being Blindmate.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on How many languages do you speak? in ~humanities.languages

    luka
    Link
    I speak English, Swiss German (and by extension Standard German), and Hungarian fluently. I know French well enough to understand text. There isn't really an order of preference, as I spent much...

    I speak English, Swiss German (and by extension Standard German), and Hungarian fluently. I know French well enough to understand text.

    There isn't really an order of preference, as I spent much time in places where these languages are spoken, but certain aspects are easier depending on the language. My professional language and literary skills are best in English and I feel most comfortable reading in it. However, I haven't spent an extended amount of time in an English speaking environment for more than a decade, so it's my least preferred language to speak.

    Swiss German is the easiest for me because of it dominating my childhood and early adulthood, but it's getting a bit rusty as I only use it with family these days. It's not a particularly useful language and I don't think I will ever use it my daily life again, but I plan to speak it with my children as I think multilingualism is not an optional skill to have. It's easier to get stuck in a bubble if you aren't able to immerse yourself into various cultural contexts.

    I have the smallest vocabulary in Hungarian but it's the one I think is the most interesting, as there is a surprising amount of depth in it, considering the number of speakers. You have to basically learn the language from scratch as it uses unique grammar and vocabulary. The language went through an extensive reform in the 19th century where many borrowed Latin and Greek words were replaced by native words cobbled together from old stem words, and people often don't understand you if you try to cheat a bit by "naturalizing" a Latin word. This has stuck around to this day, with modern words being usually translated literally (other languages have this too, like French or German). Due to its grammatical flexibility, the language lends itself to poetry quite well too so there is a lot of flowery language that people use in their day to day lives.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on How many languages do you speak? in ~humanities.languages

    luka
    Link Parent
    I know it's a tongue in cheek comment but these days English is so ingrained that the only thing it will ever be replaced by is the universal translator from Star Trek. It's the lingua franca in...

    I know it's a tongue in cheek comment but these days English is so ingrained that the only thing it will ever be replaced by is the universal translator from Star Trek.

    It's the lingua franca in the European Union despite the only native speaking country being Ireland making up a bit more than 1% of the population, which is a bit funny.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Paradox Interactive's return-to-office policy may be driving employees away from the studio in ~games

    luka
    Link Parent
    It's a trick you can pull just once though. Once the most talented employees are gone and productivity drops, they'll have to figure out something new.

    It's a trick you can pull just once though. Once the most talented employees are gone and productivity drops, they'll have to figure out something new.

    25 votes

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

    luka
    Link Parent
    Regarding fuel I'm still in the very beginning with a small fleet but I invested in a tanker that allows me to cross the galaxy in one go and it's a big improvement. Same for a freighter to manage...

    Regarding fuel I'm still in the very beginning with a small fleet but I invested in a tanker that allows me to cross the galaxy in one go and it's a big improvement. Same for a freighter to manage supplies.

    My plan from now is to have a couple of ships dedicated to always making sure I have a ton of supplies in reserve, also makes surveying and colonizing easier.

    I haven't figured out combat yet, I just lob all of my ships at the enemy and see what happens. Like you, I reload the game a lot.

    2 votes

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

    luka
    Link Parent
    I also started playing it after having seen it recommended around here, maybe by @hungariantoast. And after looking for a long time for something to scratch my 4X/spreadsheet simulator itch, this...

    I also started playing it after having seen it recommended around here, maybe by @hungariantoast.

    And after looking for a long time for something to scratch my 4X/spreadsheet simulator itch, this is it. It's perfect.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on What are some examples of media that really captured lightning in a bottle? in ~tv

    luka
    Link Parent
    Game of Thrones is such a shame. Everyone, including HBO, wanted it to be longer to finish it off but the writers refused, wanting to move onto other projects. Should have passed it off to someone...

    Game of Thrones is such a shame. Everyone, including HBO, wanted it to be longer to finish it off but the writers refused, wanting to move onto other projects. Should have passed it off to someone else.

    12 votes