Protected's recent activity
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Comment on Reading my first Stephen King novel - What are your favorites? in ~books
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Comment on Reading my first Stephen King novel - What are your favorites? in ~books
Protected Link ParentFor (non-meta) reasons I will absolutely not discuss before the unspoiled, I consider The Gunslinger to be more of a parallel (perpendicular?) thing. Still should be read though.For (non-meta) reasons I will absolutely not discuss before the unspoiled, I consider The Gunslinger to be more of a parallel (perpendicular?) thing. Still should be read though.
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Comment on Reading my first Stephen King novel - What are your favorites? in ~books
Protected Link ParentFairy Tale is part of King's most recent writing category, coincidentally debuted in his elder years: Kindly And Upright Teens Patiently Look After Grumpy Elderly People ;)Fairy Tale is part of King's most recent writing category, coincidentally debuted in his elder years: Kindly And Upright Teens Patiently Look After Grumpy Elderly People ;)
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Comment on Bagels and shrinkflation in ~food
Protected Link ParentSetting aside the specifics of bagels, here in Portugal supermarket profiteering through shrinkflation, markups, fraudolent "discounts" and more are pretty extreme across the board. More and more...Setting aside the specifics of bagels, here in Portugal supermarket profiteering through shrinkflation, markups, fraudolent "discounts" and more are pretty extreme across the board. More and more I just want to buy basic ingredients and learn to make things at home.
It has been a while but a friend once gave me a kit for curing bacon at home and I remember the result was really good.
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Comment on Paramount launches a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in ~movies
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Comment on Without looking, do you have a vague idea of your coordinates? in ~talk
Protected Link ParentAh, yes, Myst Island. As someone living in the UTC timezone, and also Portuguese (São Tomé and Principe, the island country nearest to Null Island, was a Portuguese colony, discussed in school) I...Ah, yes, Myst Island.
As someone living in the UTC timezone, and also Portuguese (São Tomé and Principe, the island country nearest to Null Island, was a Portuguese colony, discussed in school) I was previously aware of the location.
But amusingly, I have no idea what my own coordinates are. Not anywhere near a good idea of the latitude, especially.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected LinkA couple additional remarks about Bittersweet Birthday. The game had a total of three chapters (you go back to the main menu after each of them). The first two were fine. The third one was...A couple additional remarks about Bittersweet Birthday.
The game had a total of three chapters (you go back to the main menu after each of them). The first two were fine. The third one was painful. Gameplay almost completely gives way to an on-rails series of cutscenes that last a good four hours (if you speed through the dialogue). The characters go on and on about the world building/"magic system" of the game, in a conversational, high friction, endlessly repetitive manner. Someone is listed in the credits as "editor"; they needed a better editor. It was by far the most masturbatory video game writing I've seen in a long time.
It's not like the ideas in the game were bad, or anything. It was a fine game with a fine foundation. But I'd gotten it by then. I'd gotten it when the game gave me a notebook that neatly explains all the concepts - life comes from and goes to another dimension, there's a horizon between them, people are being made immortal by coating them in psychic shrinkwrap that keeps life from escaping, this means everybody else will keel over and die, end of the world, cool. I don't want to read about it for another four damn hours. I want to play a game!
I wish they'd focused more on the combat portions and on adding more locations.
So, here's a riddle. In what game can you flood a desert, ride a menagerie of aquatic mammals, do skateboard tricks, surf up a mountain and bitchslap a giant serpent lava god? Why, it's Sword of the Sea, which I played this week. Thanks, Secret Santa!
This is the newest game by Giant Squid, the studio founded by Journey art director Matt Nava, released earlier this year. Previously, they released Abzu, a beautiful game that takes place under the waters of the ocean, and which features a massive variety of aquatic life. Then they released The Pathless, a vast "open world" adventure game featuring archery, puzzle solving and cinematic boss fights. Sword of the Sea feels like it brings all of these games together - Nava has publicly confirmed they take place in the same world! Even Journey is alluded to by scarves and pennants, and the rolling, sandy dunes of the desert.
Some reviewers mention Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, which I found amusing. Tony Hawk's Pro Journey? The Wraith you control doesn't walk, but rather surfs on his giant sword. He can glide on anything, though most of the time you'll be on sand, snow, water or (try not to linger) lava. There are button combinations for doing "tricks", and rewards for doing combos. Level design even includes half-pipes here and there! Even without that, movement is really satisfying. Minor movement-related abilities are unlocked gradually during your playthrough - SotS is largely an exploration game.
The world of Sword of the Sea is gorgeous in a vaguely surreal way. You are attempting to bring "the ocean" back to the world of the surface after mean lava god Tor Namun fought ocean gods the Dolphin and the Shark to a standstill, a story told in free verse through small monuments found throughout the game. You can never quite tell if you're on land or on the ocean, though - sandy dunes will undulate like the high seas, and water will cover the hilltops without flowing downslope. Fish and aquatic mammals will swim freely through the skies. It all works, somehow! The musical atmosphere of the game is, in my humble opinion, top tier. One of the best I've ever heard in a videogame, and it deserves more mainstream recognition (though the game has won a whole bunch of awards already!)
The game is a bit more narrow in scope than The Pathless, a bit more focused and less gameplay-oriented. There is an achievement for finishing in 2 hours, which you can take as a reference for a speedrun. A normal run might take you 6 hours or so, while a thorough run (there are collectibles, some of which are very well hidden) might exceed 10 hours. I loved this game and am looking forward to playing more games by this studio!
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Comment on “Tomato” versus “#FF6347”—the tragicomic history of CSS color names in ~comp
Protected Link ParentThere are so many better names for that color! Like "magenta", or "texture missing" :D Was it on tildes that I once saw an article about how that color is extra imaginary since our brains render...There are so many better names for that color! Like "magenta", or "texture missing" :D
Was it on tildes that I once saw an article about how that color is extra imaginary since our brains render it from a composite of two fairly distinct wavelength intervals?
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Comment on “Tomato” versus “#FF6347”—the tragicomic history of CSS color names in ~comp
Protected Link ParentWhile limes can be a fairly vivid green, they're often yellowish on the outside and always on the inside. That is fine. This is just wrong! I looked into it and apparently the incorrect color...While limes can be a fairly vivid green, they're often yellowish on the outside and always on the inside. That is fine.
I looked into it and apparently the incorrect color balance of "lime" originated from the use of the term in early 16 color systems to refer to pure vivid green 00FF00, as a shorthand for telling it apart from "dark" green. Admittedly, if you're approximating colors to only 16 stops, it might be the closest one... depending on the lime?
The moniker then likely made it into HTML and CSS from X11 as described in the article.
Here it is in an early draft of CSS3 (this makes it all the way to the modern spec but it's fun to see the old version of it). Lime green is then a color between "lime" and "green" which is consistent with how other composite names were derived for CSS.
So the real answer is that this has never had anything to do with the fruit other than for how it inspired the use of "lime" for pure vivid green in old systems. If "limegreen" actually was consistent with expectations it would be far less confusing.
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Comment on “Tomato” versus “#FF6347”—the tragicomic history of CSS color names in ~comp
Protected (edited )LinkLime green has always bothered me. What kind of lime is that color? Should have been called ninetiescartoonradioactivegloop. EDIT: Lime green. Fortunately redwall_hp replied to the color I meant :DLime green has always bothered me. What kind of lime is that color? Should have been called ninetiescartoonradioactivegloop.
EDIT: Lime green. Fortunately redwall_hp replied to the color I meant :D
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Comment on Ireland among countries boycotting Eurovision after Israel allowed to compete in ~music
Protected Link ParentActually, I first learned of that perspective from cheep_cheep's comment and found that an interesting and valid reason for keeping Israel in. What I don't like about Israel's participation is how...Actually, I first learned of that perspective from cheep_cheep's comment and found that an interesting and valid reason for keeping Israel in.
What I don't like about Israel's participation is how they use underhanded tactics (ie aggressive ad campaigns) to make up for their (currently) poor international reputation. They are undermining the contest for everyone. So the question is - what exactly do we want the ESC to be about? We've spent years clamoring for it to be less political, but if it's merely a political tool we might as well go back to everyone just voting for their neighboring country. If it's an actual song contest, then Israel is acting in bad faith - and so are countries like Germany by making this a political issue in the first place.
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Comment on Cloud hosting in EU in ~comp
Protected Link ParentI'm almost certain it was the Paris datacenter. I've had experience with many ISPs in North America and Europe over the years and in general I'd say French locations have had poor, or at least...I'm almost certain it was the Paris datacenter.
I've had experience with many ISPs in North America and Europe over the years and in general I'd say French locations have had poor, or at least dishonestly marketed/allocated, connectivity (don't even want to talk about OVH...) The Netherlands on the other hand is usually pretty good in that regard, so the same company might provide better service if they have a datacenter there.
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Comment on San Francisco sues ultra processed food producers in ~food
Protected Link ParentIt's complicated, though. Often things are banned - or not banned - because their status was determined too long ago and hasn't (yet) been updated after retesting, or is even undergoing retesting...It's complicated, though. Often things are banned - or not banned - because their status was determined too long ago and hasn't (yet) been updated after retesting, or is even undergoing retesting at the time. I'm seeing on wikipedia that E129 is not banned by the EU but is banned in several european countries.
I'd be interested in literature with concrete comparisons of EU and US food standards if you have any pointers.
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Comment on Cloud hosting in EU in ~comp
Protected LinkFor what it's worth, I had a dedibox server for several years and while I was with them the bandwidth slowly morphed into the most oversold unusable piece of garbage, especially for users...For what it's worth, I had a dedibox server for several years and while I was with them the bandwidth slowly morphed into the most oversold unusable piece of garbage, especially for users connecting from central europe. They weren't providing anywhere near the bandwidth I contracted, and I eventually noticed there was absolutely no mention of said contracted limit anywhere in their user area, messages, etc.
Hetzner also had poor connectivity when I used them but I believe they have improved since. I'm not sure about the nitty gritty of cloud offering comparisons though.
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Comment on Netflix kills casting from phones in ~tech
Protected Link ParentThat would be poetic timing. I might do the same.That would be poetic timing. I might do the same.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentBarely a spoiler Keep going! There are various permanent entrances to the underground, so that will be easier eventually!Barely a spoiler
Keep going! There are various permanent entrances to the underground, so that will be easier eventually!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentYup. No need to throw runs! Since you're "only" 15 hours in, I'm morally obligated to strongly suggest that you index your database of collected information, screenshots, etc. in some searchable...Yup. No need to throw runs!
Since you're "only" 15 hours in, I'm morally obligated to strongly suggest that you index your database of collected information, screenshots, etc. in some searchable way. We're drowning in so much "important" information it's getting hard to actually find anything without scrolling for minutes each time...
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected LinkWith Desert Bus behind us for the year, I was able to put some time into Bittersweet Birthday. Another ultra-obscure one! It's a whimsical 16-bit-styled indie JRPG in which you play as a young boy...With Desert Bus behind us for the year, I was able to put some time into Bittersweet Birthday. Another ultra-obscure one! It's a whimsical 16-bit-styled indie JRPG in which you play as a young boy who awakes with amnesia in a destroyed underground facility, as well as the same person through long interactive flashbacks as he regains his memories. It reminds me of a mixture of different games so far; the conversation-driven narrative mystery (I'm not entirely sure what's going on yet!) is perhaps a little Undertale-ish, though I'm getting undertones of impending tragedy more typical of more recent games. There are no random encounters; the primary gameplay are real time boss fights (think CrossCode but no magic or skill tree) and environment-puzzle-based or inventory-based tasks. There's a charm/notch system, but instead you equip regained memories for combat benefits (or penalties, if you're that kind of player). I'm enjoying it so far.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentI'm still on this too. Still making steady progress after 64 hours. It's almost unbelievable how a game that's ostensibly so dependent on RNG managed to be so well designed that you can make...I'm still on this too. Still making steady progress after 64 hours. It's almost unbelievable how a game that's ostensibly so dependent on RNG managed to be so well designed that you can make progress on almost every run after 40 something runs...
I want to play Neyyah but I don't want to play both at the same time! Neyyah in 2026, I guess.
I entreat everyone who enjoyed this game to nominate it for the Steam Award for Innovative Gameplay! In my humble opinion, Steam Awards are almost always won by mediocre mainstream-appealing dross, and Blue Prince definitely has a chance to buck that trend.
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Comment on Can we maybe have an informal agreement to avoid posting articles that require you to sell your firstborn child to the devil just to read them? in ~tildes
Protected Link ParentIt's in the padlock, right next to the shield! Other locations: Page Info (CTRL+I or Alt, Tools > Page Info or Padlock > Connection secure > More information) under Security; Developer tools (F12...It's in the padlock, right next to the shield!
Other locations:
Page Info (CTRL+I or Alt, Tools > Page Info or Padlock > Connection secure > More information) under Security;
Developer tools (F12 or CTRL+Shift+I) under Storage (more fine grained control);
For a quick, configurable global cleanup use CTRL+Shift+Del.
That said I also have it in the cookie manager extension I have installed (Cookie Quick Manager).
I thought it was pretty consistent with the themes and structure of the story. Liked the famous ending, too.
There's , uh, grosser stuff that did a much better job of putting me off (not enough to make me quit though).