nacho's recent activity
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Comment on Norway's natural gas windfall should go to Ukraine – the country provides less support, as a share of GDP, than its neighbours in ~society
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Comment on What is a book that every 13-year-old boy should read? in ~books
nacho LinkDepending on personality and interests, different things are important for different early teens. Terry Pratchett has great books that show reading can be fun. I'd recommend any of The Free Wee...Depending on personality and interests, different things are important for different early teens.
Terry Pratchett has great books that show reading can be fun. I'd recommend any of The Free Wee Men series to get started.
The Outsiders and Holes are two other works well-suited to this age that are more about broadening minds and horizons.
Sadly, I think 13 is just too young for most non-fiction stuff that gets more directly at the topics you highlight. If he were around 15, there'd be an almost unlimited amount of things to consider, but judging by the 12-14 year olds in my family right now, they're just not there yet, sadly.
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Comment on What artist, regardless of medium, did the most to progress their field? in ~arts
nacho LinkSome boring and obvious answers. There are others in the same fields, but you can't get around these: J. S. Bach: Music. W. Shakespeare: Language/drama Leonardo Da Vinci: Painting, sculpture,...Some boring and obvious answers. There are others in the same fields, but you can't get around these:
J. S. Bach: Music.
W. Shakespeare: Language/drama
Leonardo Da Vinci: Painting, sculpture, design
Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture
Ennio Morricone: Film music
Antoni Gaudi: Design/architecture
Walt Disney: Cartoons/modern movies
Charlie Chaplin: Comedy/movies
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Musicals
Michelangelo: Sculptures/ visual arts
Ansel Adams: Photography (non-people)
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Comment on Apple debuts iPhone 16e in ~tech
nacho Link ParentI cannot recommend touch screen-tipped gloves enough. It's a game-changer. Totally worth the cost. There are a ton of different models to suit all your glove needs.a lot easier to pop off a glove for a quick second (necessary anyway to use the screen)
I cannot recommend touch screen-tipped gloves enough.
It's a game-changer. Totally worth the cost. There are a ton of different models to suit all your glove needs.
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Comment on The American physicians are healing themselves with Ozempic in ~health
nacho Link ParentHealth is about a lot more than weight. Things like fatty liver disease and all sorts of issues caused by not getting the right nutrients for a body over time. These are the issues people will...Health is about a lot more than weight.
Things like fatty liver disease and all sorts of issues caused by not getting the right nutrients for a body over time.
These are the issues people will encounter if they eat junk with large calorie restrictions: They don't get what the body needs.
Diet is more than just not eating too much, but not eating too much is an important part of any diet.
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Comment on Do you think stressful games are kind of bad for your health? in ~games
nacho LinkI think there are good and bad types of stress. Stress from being put in situations where you're approaching the limits of your abilities, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing can lead to...I think there are good and bad types of stress.
Stress from being put in situations where you're approaching the limits of your abilities, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing can lead to feelings of reward, states of flow and fullfilment that are hard to replicate elsewhere. This type of enjoyment can be good, and I'm guessing like other "good stress" from outside games, will probably have positive health benefits.
Stress from being frustrated, giving up unfulfilled, hating life more and more, feeling time is wasted and other types of negative stress are probably just that: Negative. I assume the effects here will be similar to other types of negative stress, like wasting your time, being absorbed negatively, stressing out, thinking about failures etc.
With that in mind, I think people have to find for themselves if playing some super-hardcore permanent death grind game is the right kind of enjoyable stress for them or not.
Or playing team games with random strangers online. Is it just frustrating for me, or enjoyable?
Do I play games in ways that let me just have fun? Should I be comparing myself to professionals, looking at build guides, grinding currency or min/maxing?
Personally, the answer is often that I'll play "inefficiently", impose self-restrictions to avoid doing things I don't enjoy in a game and that way I'll have way more fun. Sometimes that involves being disciplined in staying away from streamers, videos, guides etc. that take the fun out of a game for -me-.
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Comment on English grammar book recommendations? in ~humanities.languages
nacho LinkFor other languages, grammars give extra depth of understanding even for advanced speakers. My experience with English - because the grammar is so simple, the rules in many cases so obscure or...For other languages, grammars give extra depth of understanding even for advanced speakers.
My experience with English - because the grammar is so simple, the rules in many cases so obscure or have so many exceptions - is that a grammar is much less useful.
I always recommend Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" to get into more advanced English.
"The Economist's Style Guide" is also good, with many good rules/ideas in practice.
If you're actually out for advanced grammar, I wouldn't even know where to start anymore. You already implicitly know all the esoteric "rules" about the Third person subjunctive, countables/uncountables etc.
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Comment on Meta is ending its fact-checking program in favor of a 'community notes' system similar to X in ~tech
nacho Link ParentI think for most audiences around the world, it's a lot more serious that Meta'll still remove a hint of a nipple, but not remove blatantly false state-sponsored political propaganda. In many...I think for most audiences around the world, it's a lot more serious that Meta'll still remove a hint of a nipple, but not remove blatantly false state-sponsored political propaganda.
In many countries I don't think these changes will go over well.
In the US, maybe a portion of the population will think this is less "censorship" although a much larger group seem to be seriously concerned about how social media platforms run their operations and how their algorithms are turning many of our brains to mush.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
nacho LinkI've never played Path of Exile before, so I figured I'd try the closed beta of Path of Exile 2 that started maybe a month ago. The story is pretty good! Only the first three of a planned six acts...I've never played Path of Exile before, so I figured I'd try the closed beta of Path of Exile 2 that started maybe a month ago.
The story is pretty good! Only the first three of a planned six acts are done.
So far, gameplay-wise, I'm enjoying it more than the Diablo games. because it just plays better.
A lot of people are saying the endgame seems unfinished or predatory because you have to grind so much to get an attempt at the last bosses. I'm guessing that's partly because people haven't grinded gear for months so dying is more common than it probably will be down the line.
It'll be intersting to see how things pan out the next months to a year before full release!
I'm not going to dedicate huge amounts of time to the game. Therefore it's nice that the self-sufficient style works well thus far. And you get enough currency that it's pretty easy to trade for good gear to try the endgame too.
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Comment on Norway is assessing its EU options as a second Donald Trump term looms – increased geopolitical tensions could yet see Oslo rethink its attitude towards Brussels in ~society
nacho Link ParentI also expect relatively cheap electricity compared to Europe and autonomy over the power grid to be a major deal here. Now if te world were to enter a state of more and more tariffs, and Norway...I also expect relatively cheap electricity compared to Europe and autonomy over the power grid to be a major deal here.
Now if te world were to enter a state of more and more tariffs, and Norway were fall outside EU-US or other bilateral EU trade deals, just being on the outside could completely decimate the Norwegian economy.
If this unlikely scenario were to play out for some geopolitical reasons or other, the way into the EU would be quick, irrespective of the other three "freedom areas" of fishing rights, price and power grid autonomy. I think this last scenario is the only somewhat realistic way for Norway to join during the next decade or so.
Even defense cooperation with Ukraine or only access to Covid vaccines because the EU were inclusive rather than exclusive didn't really change attitudes towards membership.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
nacho Link ParentMy only gripe so far is that it's hard to tell the number of charges in the health/mana flasks. I wish I could have a counter. I'm somewhat into Act II, enjoying the story more than POE 1 as well....My only gripe so far is that it's hard to tell the number of charges in the health/mana flasks. I wish I could have a counter.
I'm somewhat into Act II, enjoying the story more than POE 1 as well.
So far I'm finding it a little difficult to judge what gear to pick up or not. That's also part of the great thing about playing a new game: It hasn't been solved yet, so you can just do whatever as long as you're trying without getting flack.
The multiplayer parties are great. The scaling down of levels to play with friends seems to work okay.
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Comment on A conspiracy theory about US "bullet ballots" - How it's hard to evaluate stuff you see online in ~society
nacho Link ParentWell said. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Sadly many seem to believe social media posts that "look professional" with random unsourced text pasted on an image.Well said.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Sadly many seem to believe social media posts that "look professional" with random unsourced text pasted on an image.
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Comment on Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Norway thrashed Kazakhstan to seal promotion to the top flight of the UEFA Nations League in ~sports.football
nacho LinkHe now has more hat-tricks than he is years old (25 hat-tricks, 24 years old). I believe Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players with more hat-tricks...He now has more hat-tricks than he is years old (25 hat-tricks, 24 years old).
I believe Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players with more hat-tricks in the top divisions since the year 2000.
Haaland scores something like a hat-trick around every 10 games on average, which is just a silly stat.
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Comment on Could we get a ~politics.us? in ~tildes
nacho Link ParentI stand corrected. There's been at least one removal. Stuff like an Onion piece on the election results has reached the minimum bar for a stand-alone thread this week.I stand corrected. There's been at least one removal.
Stuff like an Onion piece on the election results has reached the minimum bar for a stand-alone thread this week.
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Comment on Could we get a ~politics.us? in ~tildes
nacho Link ParentNo-one is having their US political submissions removed for being "too trivial" to deserve a stand-alone post. That's because there is no policy that these threads must be made to megathreads...No-one is having their US political submissions removed for being "too trivial" to deserve a stand-alone post.
That's because there is no policy that these threads must be made to megathreads rather than as normal submissions to their relevant groups.
There has been no announcement of such a policy, because there is no such policy.
I know a group of users wants such a policy, based on their interests and tastes. They can filter topics or words. I'm much more interested in users making contributions to this site having good experiences than people who choose not to use the site settings to match their interests.
You're perfectly fine to hold a different opinion to mine. I don't have a problem with that.
What I do have a problem with is that you feel the need to characterize my view as "disingenuous" and assume bad faith on my behalf. That's not in line with the basic ideas that underpin tildes.
I don't understand how you can view me having a different view to yours on politics megathreads as evidence of "how toxic" US political discussion is on tildes. Can you not respect users having different views to yours?
If those reading these exchanges find my views toxic or denigrating the ability to have discussions on tildes, then clearly a lot has changed since we were brainstorming the ideas in the chat channels that led Deimos to create this site in the way he chose.
If that's how others read these exchanges, I'd love to hear about it.
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Comment on Could we get a ~politics.us? in ~tildes
nacho Link ParentI just want to reiterate that this is not a policy, however much a small group of people would like it to be, based on their personal interests/non-interests. Anyone can post any appropriate link...US news in particular is supposed to go into the megathread.
I just want to reiterate that this is not a policy, however much a small group of people would like it to be, based on their personal interests/non-interests.
Anyone can post any appropriate link they want to the groups they want.
Some people want to deter others from posting about the issues they care about, and would rather these contributors have bad experiences with much fewer interactions by leaving their submissions to die in megathreads.
(I'm not saying this is something anyone in this thread wants)
Users are completely free to post things they want to post. It's up to users to filter tags/groups they are not interested in.
That's how tildes is built as a site.
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Comment on A freeze dryer is not a reasonable purchase in ~tech
nacho Link ParentI have a regular fruit dryer. That's more than good enough for preserving fruit when there's that half a pineapple, or similar that'll get spoilt if I don't have a means of preserving. It's not...I have a regular fruit dryer. That's more than good enough for preserving fruit when there's that half a pineapple, or similar that'll get spoilt if I don't have a means of preserving.
It's not exactly the same taste, and definitely not a hobby the same way freeze drying is!
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Comment on Apex Legends dev team update: Linux and anti-cheat in ~games
nacho Link ParentIt also means the consequences of cheats getting caught are often bigger: You have to have significant expertise to make the cheats, you spend a lot of time developing the cheat, if what the cheat...It also means the consequences of cheats getting caught are often bigger:
- You have to have significant expertise to make the cheats, you spend a lot of time developing the cheat, if what the cheat exploits is patched you have to repeat some of this more demanding stuff.
The business case for cheats often just falls apart in addition to the stronger protections against many of the potential cheats themselves.
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Comment on A proposal for fixing the US healthcare system - discussion in ~health
nacho Link ParentI cannot think of a different country where the system of litigation and rules for going to court are the same as they are in the US. It's not normal that there are billboards along roads for...I cannot think of a different country where the system of litigation and rules for going to court are the same as they are in the US.
It's not normal that there are billboards along roads for accident lawyers, or that you need to have labels and signs warning against using a hairdryer in a tornado, or that using the pool is at your own risk.
Rules relating to liability are out of whack in the US. This has effects throughout society. Malpractice insurance being so incredibly costly is one of those things.
My local doctor's union advises their members to lie that they're not doctors in the US and not to help in any way if they're on the scene of a medical incident. But that advice is only for the US and a small number of other developing countries.
It's my opinion that the US is unique with relation to courts and risks of getting sued in the medical field.
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Comment on Industry groups are suing the US Federal Trade Commission to stop its click to cancel rule in ~tech
nacho Link ParentI hope we'll avoid some nonsense ruling about some contrived First Amendment concern, or similar judicial nonsense with drawing back to backwards constitutionalism on some principle or other....I hope we'll avoid some nonsense ruling about some contrived First Amendment concern, or similar judicial nonsense with drawing back to backwards constitutionalism on some principle or other.
You're entirely right: The whole point of consumer regulations is that they protect individual consumers against the power of company behemoths we can't be expected to be able to stand up to alone.
There was an "emergency meeting" in the "Extended foreign affairs and military committee" of the Norwegian parliament today with aid and weapon support as its topic.
That basically means that all the political parties essentially met behind closed doors to discuss foreign policy in this area to try to come to some sort of agreement.
There are two positive things to come out of this messy Whitehouse meeting:
Europe finally seems to be close to understanding that if Ukranian defence is strongly funded rather than at minimum-levels, the war might actually end rather than demanding continual support with little chance of ever ending.
Norway is finally understanding how much of a war profiteer ala Nazi-profiteers in WWII the view is around the world. It's shameful how much money we've put in the bank and how extremely little we've donated to Ukraine.
There was an earlier wake-up a little over a week ago where the editors of two of the largest papers in Sweden and Denmark hammered in this point 2 that caused some talk, where all the politicians previously have basically said "we're doing our part!" where that's obviously been untrue.