myrrh's recent activity
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Comment on Babylon 5 S01E1: "The Gathering" - Episode Discussion in ~tv
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Comment on Babylon 5 S01E1: "The Gathering" - Episode Discussion in ~tv
myrrh (edited )Link Parent...not sure of the order they will be posted, but the lurker's guide to babylon 5 is still online and a great reference for recommended viewing order (and all manner of deep lore)... (i still......not sure of the order they will be posted, but the lurker's guide to babylon 5 is still online and a great reference for recommended viewing order (and all manner of deep lore)...
(i still beep-beep my cats to this day)
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Comment on Sarah McLachlan: Tiny Desk Concert (2026) in ~music
myrrh Link...i thought she gave up music to focus on her lawn care business?.....i thought she gave up music to focus on her lawn care business?..
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Comment on The mega-rich are turning their mansions into impenetrable fortresses in ~finance
myrrh Link...i think they've realised that we're coming for them......i think they've realised that we're coming for them...
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Comment on In a blind test, audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between audio signals sent through copper wire, a banana, or wet mud in ~tech
myrrh Link Parent...Z0MDonkey yes!.. ...i can understand them broadcasting thirty-year-old bitrates on their satellites of equivalent age (even though in my opinion they should be cutting bandwidth from all the......Z0MDonkey yes!..
...i can understand them broadcasting thirty-year-old bitrates on their satellites of equivalent age (even though in my opinion they should be cutting bandwidth from all the talk channels to improve music fidelity, although that ship apparently sailed with the merger) but there's absolutely no excuse for their internet streams to suffer the same compression...
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Comment on In a blind test, audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between audio signals sent through copper wire, a banana, or wet mud in ~tech
myrrh (edited )Link Parent...i've consistently double-blinded 320 VBR vs lossless codecs; of course it depends on the source material, but with the some audio the difference is immediately apparent...that said, while my......i've consistently double-blinded 320 VBR vs lossless codecs; of course it depends on the source material, but with the some audio the difference is immediately apparent...that said, while my ears are far, far from golden, my cognitive hearing typically scores at the top of listening tests, so i don't doubt that many people would neither notice nor care about the differences, and in many environments you'd be hard-pressed to hear them anyway...
...at work where i'm listening to lossy bluetooth driving a low-fidelity bone-conducting headset, or driving eighty miles per hour in a top-down roadster, i just consider myself fortunate when my imagination fills in the missing information...
edit: ...last night i listened to siriusXM on my commute home for the first time in a very long while, "high-quality" stream through my phone rather than satellite broadcast, and its compression still sounds awful even at eighty miles per hour with the top down; i don't know what codec they use but it's not significantly better than a 128kpbs MP3...
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Comment on Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube in ~tv
myrrh (edited )Link Parent...and so it is!..just watched it: that's indeed the original `93 PTEN production, but the thumbnail is from the `98 TNT re-production... ...i've never seen that original production released......and so it is!..just watched it: that's indeed the original `93 PTEN production, but the thumbnail is from the `98 TNT re-production...
...i've never seen that original production released digitally but given the thumbnail, i can't help but wonder if they accidentally posted the wrong version?..
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Comment on Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube in ~tv
myrrh Link...is it the original gathering or the remaster?..i've always appreciated stewart copeland's score, but i've only seen the original broadcast episode issued on VHS......is it the original gathering or the remaster?..i've always appreciated stewart copeland's score, but i've only seen the original broadcast episode issued on VHS...
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Comment on Serenity: zen gliding to the sound of procedurally generated music in ~games
myrrh Link Parent...it's been so long that i don't know i have much interesting to share about my experiences; i played it on my wallstreet powerbook running OS 9 and the network component was a unique element for......it's been so long that i don't know i have much interesting to share about my experiences; i played it on my wallstreet powerbook running OS 9 and the network component was a unique element for that era, but its subscription monetisation effectively gatekept that expanded content for only its most passionate aficionados...at the time, i didn't realise that it was ported from IRIX, although in retrospect that totally makes sense of its sensibilities in aesthetic design, UI, and even distribution + monetisation...
...so, actual gameplay was curious contradiction between the zen-inducing gentle movement and generative score versus its escalating degrees of challenge, not due to the puzzling solutions but instead the increasingly twitchy execution they required for successful execution...there was a lot of independently-produced software around that era seeking to invent the future, pushing new ways of thinking with software tools, and tranquility certainly framed itself thusly but the actual experience evolved contrary to its stated intent...
...it's a novel notion but i didn't miss the game after i quit playing it...
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Comment on Serenity: zen gliding to the sound of procedurally generated music in ~games
myrrh Link...tranquility became surprisingly stressful at its higher levels; haven't thought about it for a long, long while... ...i'll give yours a shot!.....tranquility became surprisingly stressful at its higher levels; haven't thought about it for a long, long while...
...i'll give yours a shot!..
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Comment on Spotify will soon sell hardcover and paperback books through its app, in partnership with Bookshop.org in ~books
myrrh Link...in the same week that stories broke about the death of the mass-market paperback?.....in the same week that stories broke about the death of the mass-market paperback?..
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Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
myrrh (edited )Link Parent...i've taken finesteride orally since my fourties, started oral minoxidil a couple of years ago, too: wouldn't risk topical application around our cats... ...my hairline receded a bit in my......i've taken finesteride orally since my fourties, started oral minoxidil a couple of years ago, too: wouldn't risk topical application around our cats...
...my hairline receded a bit in my twenties and thirties and late medication didn't remediate that, but i started soon after my hair had thinned enough for my scalp to burn, and medication arrested the thinning...
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Comment on ‘House burping’ is a cold reality in Germany. Americans are warming to it. in ~life.home_improvement
myrrh Link Parent...i do likewise; if the weather's agreeable i won't hesitate to throw every window in the house wide open, and if the weather's even marginally tolerable i'll at least crack open as many as i can......i do likewise; if the weather's agreeable i won't hesitate to throw every window in the house wide open, and if the weather's even marginally tolerable i'll at least crack open as many as i can get away with...
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Comment on I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history in ~talk
myrrh Link...i can only speak anecdotally because i've never cared enough to perform a proper survey, but everyone i personally knew with a PS2 in 2000 / 2001 explicitly noted buying it for the DVD player;......i can only speak anecdotally because i've never cared enough to perform a proper survey, but everyone i personally knew with a PS2 in 2000 / 2001 explicitly noted buying it for the DVD player; of course they were also all console gamers so i'm sure that wasn't the only factor in their purchase decision...
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Comment on List animals until failure in ~games
myrrh Link...when it refused to accept honeybee i quit playing......when it refused to accept honeybee i quit playing...
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Comment on The film students who can no longer sit through films in ~movies
myrrh Link(paywalled, but at least it's not a TLDW video)(paywalled, but at least it's not a TLDW video)
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Comment on AntiRender: remove the glossy shine on architectural renderings in ~tech
myrrh Link Parent...i've been arguing this in our studio as long as i've been working, so like thirty years?..sometimes it's a tough sell, especially when resilient designs, systems, and materials are......i've been arguing this in our studio as long as i've been working, so like thirty years?..sometimes it's a tough sell, especially when resilient designs, systems, and materials are substantially costlier than cheaper limited-life alternatives, but fashion, flash, and novelty are tough to get clients past, too...
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
myrrh Link Parent...diaspora cemented my adoration of greg egan's proper science fiction... ...i've picked up his orthogonal trilogy but haven't had a chance to start it yet; awaiting an opportunity to really dig......diaspora cemented my adoration of greg egan's proper science fiction...
...i've picked up his orthogonal trilogy but haven't had a chance to start it yet; awaiting an opportunity to really dig in with focused immersion...
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
myrrh Link Parent...it's been a few decades since i read it but the 'huge plot point' isn't triggering any recognition: care to elucidate?.....it's been a few decades since i read it but the 'huge plot point' isn't triggering any recognition: care to elucidate?..
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Comment on The Ghost in the Shell | First promotion video in ~anime
myrrh Link Parent...that poster looks less ghost in the shell and more man-machine interface......that poster looks less ghost in the shell and more man-machine interface...
...while most salient points of discussion are covered in detailed episode pages over on the lurker's guide, it can be fun to go back and read period discourse on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5, which included joe straczynski's comments as the series developed in real-time...
(note that google's usenet archive pretty much starts around april '94, after the eighth episode had already aired, so all the comments in my link above potentially include spoilers through the end of the first season, but starting from episode nine onward, their archive includes spoiler-free period discussion if you read backward from the last page)