norb's recent activity

  1. Comment on PBR and Grillo's Pickles are releasing a limited-edition pickle beer in ~food

    norb
    Link Parent
    I have had this pickle beer from Urban Artifact numerous times and it is very good (of course, you have to like Gose in the first place)

    I have had this pickle beer from Urban Artifact numerous times and it is very good (of course, you have to like Gose in the first place)

    1 vote

  2. Comment on The center has a bias in ~tech

    norb
    Link Parent
    I don't know if it's the case that people now are less supportive or if those that never supported it in the first place feel emboldened to be openly racist just in general. I think enough people...

    The backslide of civil rights seems to contradict this, but it definitely feels worth exploring.

    I don't know if it's the case that people now are less supportive or if those that never supported it in the first place feel emboldened to be openly racist just in general. I think enough people realized "Hey, I can just be racist and there's no consequences" so they are.

    I think the only real truth to it is that once you have kids, you're much less likely to throw yourself into danger for their sake.

    Yes this for sure. Until people can't feed their families, then I think it swings hard the other way. But in our society as it is today, if you are comfortable enough and have enough to live on, it's hard to push to potentially make your family's situation worse.

    8 votes

  3. Comment on The center has a bias in ~tech

    norb
    Link Parent
    Kind of off topic, but there's an old-ish movie called SLC Punk! (Matthew Lillard at his best, IMHO) that your comment made me think of. At one point, the main character's father says "I didn't...

    20 year old occupy wallstreet protestor me would be appalled

    Kind of off topic, but there's an old-ish movie called SLC Punk! (Matthew Lillard at his best, IMHO) that your comment made me think of. At one point, the main character's father says "I didn't sell out, Son, I bought in. Keep that in mind." and as I get older the more I can relate to that.

    I think that relates to the old adage that as you get older you get more conservative. While I've always felt that at a certain point you kind of get stuck in your ways, and what was once progressive is soon seen as conservative (just by the nature of things always moving and changing - not that at some point you go "You know what, minority rights weren't as important as I thought when I was younger!" or whatever).

    9 votes

  4. Comment on Finishing the toy that Nintendo abandoned -- breathing new life into Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in ~games

    norb
    Link Parent
    This is really cool! Have you ever worked with Child's Play to get this kind of setup in other hospitals? I know it might be hard since these are no longer in production, but it sounds like you...

    This is really cool! Have you ever worked with Child's Play to get this kind of setup in other hospitals? I know it might be hard since these are no longer in production, but it sounds like you have some expertise others could take advantage of.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on I turned my Kindle into my own personal newspaper in ~tech

    norb
    Link Parent
    Kobo recently put in Instapaper support, which might be something you could semi-automate and utilize as well.

    Kobo recently put in Instapaper support, which might be something you could semi-automate and utilize as well.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on Why the US Navy won't open Hormuz in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    I would think that past administrations would have had an actual reason for beginning an operation like this and would have garnered international support BEFORE doing military excursions that...

    Even if we hadn't been bombarded by idiocy for the past year, even in the best of times, why would these allies absorb casualties for the US as a shield? It seems like that would be the kind of operation that would be super unpopular at home even when things are friendly.

    I would think that past administrations would have had an actual reason for beginning a war an operation like this and would have garnered international support BEFORE doing war military excursions that caused a major shipping lane for the entire world to be closed down almost completely. I would think the economic aspects alone would've made the case for international cooperation.

    Therefor the international help would've been warranted and supported, instead of whatever the fuck is going on now since it most likely would've been initiated by something the Iranians did or some other tangible issue that needed a kinetic response as the last option.

    6 votes

  7. Comment on Pam Bondi ousted as US attorney general in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    Except when the bad things are intensified due to the disarray...

    The more disarray this administration throws itself into, the less bad things they can achieve.

    Except when the bad things are intensified due to the disarray...

    5 votes

  8. Comment on The Treasury just declared the US insolvent. The media missed it. in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    DOGE might've been successful if the GOP also didn't slash taxes again while also increasing spending by some obscene amount. Do not take this as a statement in support of DOGE, as I think the...

    DOGE might've been successful if the GOP also didn't slash taxes again while also increasing spending by some obscene amount.

    Do not take this as a statement in support of DOGE, as I think the entire thing was founded on racism and smash and grab for citizen's data. But I think the unfortunate truth is we need both higher taxes and a decrease in areas of spending. I think it could be done almost wholly by addressing the DOD and DHS budgets tied with tax increases on the most wealthy, but I don't see any of that happening with our current political climate. It's going to take some huge crash for things to get fixed.

    9 votes

  9. Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books

    norb
    Link Parent
    Malazan fans can't help outing themselves as Malazan fans every time!

    Malazan fans can't help outing themselves as Malazan fans every time!

    4 votes

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

    norb
    Link Parent
    So true! I have 225+ hours topside (started a week after it came out). I can't wait to get back in each night. I'm curious what kind of lobbies you get? I'm pretty much PvE only with the...

    So true! I have 225+ hours topside (started a week after it came out). I can't wait to get back in each night.

    I'm curious what kind of lobbies you get? I'm pretty much PvE only with the occasional PvP battle when someone shoots me first. I mostly find the PvP gameplay to be subpar, and being a console player I'm at a huge disadvantage against the PC players. I leave crossplay on though, because there's something about having to pay attention to what other players are doing and their cues to see how they might behave.

    I think the entire game is a really interesting social experiment/sandbox. Just last night me and two friends were in a raid, and one of my teammates made an offhand comment about "doing the raider shuffle" (the funny little dance you can get your character to do by wiggling your joystick) and within 20 seconds another person not in our group was blasting the Electric Slide and 6 of us were doing it in game. Interactions like that really just make the game something special. Even getting shot in the back every now and then is fun!

  11. Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life

    norb
    Link
    Asking for an email at the end got me to thinking if Gmail will still be around in 16 years! I decided to give my bespoke, personal email that I can move around as needed instead. Fun little...

    Asking for an email at the end got me to thinking if Gmail will still be around in 16 years! I decided to give my bespoke, personal email that I can move around as needed instead.

    Fun little project. Thanks for sharing!

    7 votes

  12. Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    Bingo! They have always and only been for guns for themselves. “Others” do not qualify and they have no empathy for the current moment nor ability to see this coming for them someday. One thing I...

    But the 2A crowd are the ones who seemingly wanted this. My fear is that they'll just say 'ha another lib' as opposed to seeing him as a person like they are.

    Bingo! They have always and only been for guns for themselves. “Others” do not qualify and they have no empathy for the current moment nor ability to see this coming for them someday.

    One thing I have seen over and over is that a lot of conservatives cannot understand something without experiencing it firsthand. You can look at farmers not wanting bailouts for others until it hurts them personally then they do. There is always a reason they deserve the same something others shouldn’t get. Again, complete lack of empathy.

    17 votes

  13. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    These kids probably think they are being/thinking that way, it just doesn't align with what you expect. I am not defending or supporting their point of view at all, but at the end of the day there...

    Young people are supposed to be idealistic, seeing past the bullshit and expecting the world to be better.

    These kids probably think they are being/thinking that way, it just doesn't align with what you expect.

    I am not defending or supporting their point of view at all, but at the end of the day there are reasons driving young people to the right. I tend to think it all boils down to economics, and that people that are comfortable in their lives tend to not to have to perform "othering" to get ahead, but as it is, in this country and maybe across the "developed" world, middle class people are losing out economically. There are examples of this far right attitude taking hold in a lot of places.

    These are also kids that had economic and environmental collapse put in front of them since they were young. They've seen nothing change from the top down for their entire lives. Now they think "Ok, clearly the democratic/liberal world order cannot fix this" and then turn to strongmen and racists to give them order and someone or thing to blame.

    On top of all of that, I think "social media" has taught them to react with their gut or first impressions and not to look too deeply past that. Charlie Kirk was a master at this... "I'm just asking questions bro" - without people realizing that the questions themselves are not in good faith and framed in such a way as to not allow the other person to "win." Charlie never went into those things to change his own mind, he went into them to clown the other side and make them look stupid. Then young people ate it up and they thought that was what winning looked like. Instead of trying to bring people to your side, you instead galvanize the people already inclined to agree with you by making fools of the opposition.

    I think overall, young people are always the same. They think they know best but their life experience isn't developed enough to understand the true outcomes they push for. Older generations have been harnessing this naivety probably since the beginning of time. I think about the studies that show most people age out of crime, they age out of bullying, they age out of a lot of negative mindsets as they gain more experience. A lot of these kids will regret their stances as they get older as I'm sure a lot of us do too (I was once a pretty big supporter of libertarianism... ew). Of course, there are always people that lack introspection or empathy and will stick to their guns until their dying breath, but I think those types are generally outliers. Unfortunately, I also think those types are the most vocal (because they have to be to defend their own thoughts and behaviors) so the rest of us think that is the majority.

    6 votes

  14. Comment on How Europe is gearing up to follow Australia's teen social media ban in ~tech

    norb
    Link Parent
    So this is where I struggle on these issues. On the one hand, I think there is a lot of harm that comes out of social media - constant, pervasive bullying, FOMO, sexting/sextortion and recently AI...

    So this is where I struggle on these issues. On the one hand, I think there is a lot of harm that comes out of social media - constant, pervasive bullying, FOMO, sexting/sextortion and recently AI enabled fake nudes using real people, child predators, and probably a lot more I'm not aware of or can't conceive of myself.

    But on the other hand, people like yourself find communities and groups to feel included in, feel not so alone, or feel like they have people that do understand them.

    So which takes precedence? I think the human reaction is to focus on the negative and not the positive. Maybe that's because we avoid negative consequences so it's easier to "quantify" those and ban things than it is to see the positive outcomes as those are mostly below the surface or harder to see.

    On the other hand I'm hardly a model for good mental health so lol

    In your instance, are you better off (even with your self described mental state) having had that space online or would you be in a much worse space today without them? (This is a question I ask knowing nothing about you and please don't take it the wrong way.)

    At the end of the day I think that the only thing that helps kids is trusted adults teaching them how to navigate our society, how to build resilience against the negatives of these platforms, and managing access based on the needs/maturity of any given child. Blanket banning things from the top feels like the wrong approach to me, but I can understand the desire for people to feel like they're doing something.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Finally making the jump to a custom router so I can have all my outgoing traffic over mullvad but that brings with it two questions for me in ~tech

    norb
    Link Parent
    This is absolutely doable with a (professional/enterprise level) next-gen firewall. What they do is decrypt the original packet, inspect it, and then re-encrypt it with their own certificate. That...

    No firewall really exists (or can exist) to man-in-the-middle that handshake without breaking a lot of things (like certificates), it would also be pretty computationally expensive to do.

    This is absolutely doable with a (professional/enterprise level) next-gen firewall. What they do is decrypt the original packet, inspect it, and then re-encrypt it with their own certificate. That certificate needs to be trusted on the endpoints, but to the end user it is seamless and basically unnoticeable. Of course, an end user can inspect the certificate and see that it doesn't match the source, however if the firewall's certificate is trusted the user won't see anything in the browser to indicate it's been tampered with (like a missing lock icon).

    In my experience managing one of these devices, the vendor also supplies certain groupings for sites so that you can choose to decrypt only certain sites' traffic and not others, so for example you can say "do not decrypt known banking sites, shopping sites, or medical sites." This will allow for some level of user privacy for certain things, but allow the system to check encrypted traffic for other sites.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt now has a family connection to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    None of the above. She's her brother's ex. Speculation is that the family turned her in.

    None of the above. She's her brother's ex. Speculation is that the family turned her in.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on US Senate suddenly passes the Jeffrey Epstein bill just hours after it cleared the House in ~society

    norb
    Link Parent
    The bill itself has some ways that they can weasel out of doing much of anything. There's a good write up here on how they can get around releasing much of anything. A relevant quote from that...

    The bill itself has some ways that they can weasel out of doing much of anything.

    There's a good write up here on how they can get around releasing much of anything.

    A relevant quote from that article:

    The bill, after demanding that “No record shall be withheld, delayed or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,” goes on to undermine all of that.

    The bill says that if the Attorney General “makes a determination that covered information may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the United States, including methods or sources related to national security, the Attorney General shall release an unclassified summary for each of the redacted or withheld classified information.” As in, the Attorney General would get to decide what to release and how to characterize it.

    So I think there's a certain amount of political cynicism going on here amongst GOP leadership. They can let Congress vote on passing this thing, then let Trump and Bondi take all the heat for what happens next. I'm guessing a lot of the GOP is fine with this as they know Trump is a sinking ship and they need to survive in the post-Trump world. They also know the unshakable portion of their base won't fight against whatever it is Trump does. For people that do not like Trump, they're already primed to assume Trump is all over this thing and it being released won't change their opinion either. IMHO, none of this really changes much of anything in the near term. Longer term it might be harder to tell the impact, but midterms are a year away and most people will have forgotten this by then as Trump and co. drum up other things to distract people with.

    14 votes

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

    norb
    Link Parent
    I picked up Arc Raiders late last week and it's quickly taken over all my free time (and lunch breaks lol). I have never tried an extraction shooter before, so this is new territory to me, but I...

    I picked up Arc Raiders late last week and it's quickly taken over all my free time (and lunch breaks lol).

    I have never tried an extraction shooter before, so this is new territory to me, but I would echo all of your comments about the overall friendliness of the playerbase. I also feel like it's early in the game lifecycle, and I wonder if it will stay that way or not. With the large influx of players (I'd heard maybe 2 million copies sold in the first week across all platforms?) it'll be interesting to see how it goes. In my completely uninformed opinion, I think the fact that the PvE stuff is actually dangerous it helps keep some of the PvP aspects from getting out of hand. But I have been shot in the back while trying to leave more than once and have had to just log off and come back the next day.

    I started out solo and that was tough but then had a couple friends show me the ropes and get me going and now I'm totally comfortable going out solo even with a somewhat better loadout. There is a pretty steep learning curve to this game, and I'm assuming it's to this genre, but now that I have a better handle on what loot is good, what I need to look out for on a run, and what areas are generally more sweaty than others, I find I can hop in and out with relative ease. I have found that even just enabling the "party fill" option before you join is worthwhile if you want to group up. The randos I've matched with have all been helpful, seem to use voice chat, and overall have been fun to play with.

    Speaking of voice chat, proximity chat has been a lot of fun, especially with the voice changer (raider voice). I have talked my way out of some scrapes already and if you approach people with a "Hey raider!" and don't surprise them, they seem to leave you be. I have also found out that as the rounds go in the last 10 or 5 minutes, people are way more likely to shoot first and ask questions later because they don't want you to shoot them by that point.

    I've hit level 21 or 22 so I think I've unlocked all the things. I am unsure about some of the late game stuff and am still working on upgrading benches in town, but overall I think I'll be playing this for awhile.

    2 votes

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

    norb
    Link Parent
    Just finished the quest that showed me these things last night, so yeah I think I'll be going this route instead. I did do some random grouping and it was way more enjoyable that way. All in all...

    Just finished the quest that showed me these things last night, so yeah I think I'll be going this route instead.

    I did do some random grouping and it was way more enjoyable that way.

    All in all it seems like a good game and I'm sure I'll spend some time on it.

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

    norb
    Link Parent
    This is what I'd heard about this as well, but I'm not sure if I got unlucky or not playing yesterday. I'm new to this genre of game (played plenty of FPS's over the years though) and I got...

    in solo queue you can actually find a good amount of people that aren't out to shoot you in the back and take all your stuff

    This is what I'd heard about this as well, but I'm not sure if I got unlucky or not playing yesterday. I'm new to this genre of game (played plenty of FPS's over the years though) and I got blasted in the back three games in a row playing solo last night - all three times while I was trying to end a round in the lift thing. Pretty much turned me off playing anymore for the rest of the night. I guess I need to find people to play with, because I'm not too interested in grinding for 20 or 30 minutes just to get shot in the back and lose my loot. At least you keep the XP so you can level your character, but losing the loot is frustrating.