pum's recent activity
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Comment on CommitMono font in ~comp
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Comment on What's something you want to understand the appeal of? in ~talk
pum Link ParentOff-topic, but it's a shame that OP chose the nuclear option of deleting all comments in the thread rather than setting to ignore it. Sure, not all responses may have been particularly courteous,...Off-topic, but it's a shame that OP chose the nuclear option of deleting all comments in the thread rather than setting to ignore it. Sure, not all responses may have been particularly courteous, but I didn't see any outright hostility either, and it is a topic people feel strongly about by nature, so some disagreement is to be expected.
If I recall correctly, on Hacker News you can't easily purge account history precisely for the fact that it hurts the overall discourse. Although it has obvious drawbacks with regards to privacy, I'm starting to see their point. Not saying that Tildes should adopt a policy like that, just slightly disappointed in the individual choice made here.
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Comment on Why did you select your username for Tildes? in ~tildes
pum LinkMy usual username is "yamplum". There's no meaning behind it, it just sounds nice and is relatively easy to pronounce. One day I was having a commiseration session with my friends about the...My usual username is "yamplum". There's no meaning behind it, it just sounds nice and is relatively easy to pronounce. One day I was having a commiseration session with my friends about the pitfalls of YAML and someone pointed out that you couldn't spell "yamplum" without "yaml"... so I fixed that. ;)
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Comment on What's something you want to understand the appeal of? in ~talk
pum (edited )Link ParentThe examples you gave don't provoke a visceral reaction, but I just find them really unappealing still. I like a lot of things in the same vein: chibis, fumo plushes, tsum tsum plushes, the...The examples you gave don't provoke a visceral reaction, but I just find them really unappealing still. I like a lot of things in the same vein: chibis, fumo plushes, tsum tsum plushes, the Knights's design from Hollow Knight. Despite that, I strongly dislike Funkos.
This is obviously purely a matter of personal taste, so I'm not going to argue that scale figures are somehow objectively better, but personally if I could get a free Funko pop of one of my favorite characters, I'd rather have nothing at all. For entry level collectibles, I think art prints are an excellent option, and there are inexpensive figures out there if you shop around. If it's specifically the homogenized look people are after, then we can only agree to disagree as I don't see that as a positive trait at all, at least not the way Funko does it.
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Comment on What's something you want to understand the appeal of? in ~talk
pum Link ParentIt's interesting. Kitty overall does have a similar shape and facial structure to a Funko pop and I find her appearance relatively cute, but the actual Kitty Funko pops to me look horrifying and...It's interesting. Kitty overall does have a similar shape and facial structure to a Funko pop and I find her appearance relatively cute, but the actual Kitty Funko pops to me look horrifying and like they're going to murder me in my sleep. I'm pretty sure it's the dead fish eyes that trigger it for me.
Ironically, it seems that Funko can make non-misshapen figurines as well. I guess the Google Nest-headed ones are just that much more lucrative.
I do generally enjoy emotionless characters, so I do not see a correlation there. It is purely the shapes and proportions that turn me off.
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Comment on What's something you want to understand the appeal of? in ~talk
pum Link ParentI can empathize with desiring consistency, but it rubs me the wrong way when the distinct visual identity of the character is lost as a consequence. I'm not much of a collector, but I did have a...I can empathize with desiring consistency, but it rubs me the wrong way when the distinct visual identity of the character is lost as a consequence.
I'm not much of a collector, but I did have a sizeable home library at one point and I know the feeling of mild frustration when two books of the same series have different covers (e.g. from different reprints) — hell, I have two volumes on the shelf right now that are from the same edition but look nothing alike. But at the same time, I appreciate each individual book or series having its own appearance; after all, they all have different voices and different stories to tell. I think these days I tend to appreciate the beauty in diversity and asymmetry more so than uniformity in general, although both have their charms, of course.
Tangentially related, I remember hearing how (although I'm not sure how true it is) in Japan it's more prevalent for family members to each use their own individual pieces of tableware instead of set pieces. I find that fascinating as a form of self-expression.
I think a lot of my distaste for Funko pops comes from the eyes. Being steeped in the world of anime-style art where the nose and mouth can be a dot each but the eyes have 20 layers of detail, it's jarring to see the beady, perfectly circular black holes plastered on a bar of soap for the head. It hurts to see this turn into this.
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Comment on What's something you want to understand the appeal of? in ~talk
pum (edited )LinkFunko pops. They feel deprived of individuality, and personally I find the style rather ugly. Why those instead of proper figurines?Funko pops. They feel deprived of individuality, and personally I find the style rather ugly. Why those instead of proper figurines?
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Comment on CommitMono font in ~comp
pum LinkI gave this font a shot. It's... fine. It's legible and not distracting, which I suppose makes it successful at its stated goals. But also, as someone who used to obsess over the perfect font and...I gave this font a shot. It's... fine. It's legible and not distracting, which I suppose makes it successful at its stated goals.
But also, as someone who used to obsess over the perfect font and the perfect color scheme, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of that is just a rabbit hole detour from doing actual work. Beyond very fundamental issues (distinct
1iIl!etc., readability at 14pt, sufficient contrast), most visual distinctions that seem prominent when flipping back and forth between options all but disappear when I focus on what my code actually means instead of how it looks.There are a lot of good default fonts that might not feel "glamorous" enough to daily drive. Liberation Mono, DejaVu Sans Mono — my system fonts that look just as good to me as my personal font of choice, Hack. On Windows, Consolas is perfectly fine (and Cascadia Code is okay, I guess). I haven't used MacOS, but Menlo and SF Mono look decent, too.
Unless an option provides a whole new visual paradigm (like one of my favorite monochrome themes, Verdandi — sample), it probably matters a lot less than you might think.
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Comment on Book writing self-hosted solutions? in ~tech
pum Link ParentThe two aren't mutually exclusive. ;) But I agree with your point. I don't mind proprietary tools as long as the format spec is open and practical to reimplement, especially for something as...When choosing between open source tools and open content formats, I'd always choose my content to be open.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. ;) But I agree with your point. I don't mind proprietary tools as long as the format spec is open and practical to reimplement, especially for something as simple as Markdown files.
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Comment on Book writing self-hosted solutions? in ~tech
pum (edited )LinkObsidian with SyncThing has worked out fairly well for me. It also plays well with cloud storage services, including iCloud for Apple devices. There are plenty of plugins to adjust the workflow to...Obsidian with SyncThing has worked out fairly well for me. It also plays well with cloud storage services, including iCloud for Apple devices. There are plenty of plugins to adjust the workflow to your liking, although you may run into some rough edges. The Canvas feature can be pretty useful.
edit: it's technically not open-source, but it does give you full ownership of your data, if that's an important point to you.
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
pum Link ParentIt depends. "Otaku" in general means someone strongly into something, similar to "geek" in English, so there are anime otaku, but also train otaku, history otaku, military otaku, etc., and it...It depends. "Otaku" in general means someone strongly into something, similar to "geek" in English, so there are anime otaku, but also train otaku, history otaku, military otaku, etc., and it doesn't always carry a negative sentiment, making it a matter of context. But I would say that the usual image of an anime otaku in the Japanese society is not exactly positive, closer to "nerd" than "geek".
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
pum Link ParentSnake eggs are probably the closest shape, so I nominate "hand snake egg" or "handsnegg" for short.Snake eggs are probably the closest shape, so I nominate "hand snake egg" or "handsnegg" for short.
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Comment on Favorite out of bounds experience? in ~games
pum LinkIn STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, you can get out of bounds pretty easily on the Rostok map (Duty's camp) by walking along the moat near the entrance and jumping over the fence. Surprisingly, the...In STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, you can get out of bounds pretty easily on the Rostok map (Duty's camp) by walking along the moat near the entrance and jumping over the fence. Surprisingly, the map doesn't end there, and you can walk for a good few kilometers all the way to (and through) the Wild Territory, but the most unsettling part are the empty grassy hills that stretch out just south of it. There are no buildings, no landmarks, just a vast space that feels like it — or you — shouldn't be there. When I first got there, there was a thunderstorm going, so the atmosphere of walking through a boundless space with the rain roaring, the distant ambience of the Zone, and the occasional lightning strike punctuating the skies was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I get creeped out by inhumanly large scales, so it was my perfect nightmare in some ways.
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Comment on What is your most important game? in ~games
pum (edited )LinkA few come to mind. I played Mirror's Edge on release, but when revisiting around 2013 something pushed me to pick it up as a speedrun game. I had comparatively piss poor English proficiency at...A few come to mind.
I played Mirror's Edge on release, but when revisiting around 2013 something pushed me to pick it up as a speedrun game. I had comparatively piss poor English proficiency at the time, but entering that community had forced me to interact with people in other countries for probably the first time in my life. Broadening my perspective like that essentially made me who I am today, and I have to appreciate the other runners tolerating a 14 year old kid with bad English whose communication style comprised of adding Kappa to every chat message — although I doubt many remember me now. Also co-organizing a 32-man tournament helped me learn some production skills.
In 2014 I picked up osu! and it pretty much shaped a half of my current music taste. Learning about Japanese music has lead me to finding many new artists whose work helped me through a pretty depressing part of my life and some of whom I still follow to this day. Being fascinated with Japanese lyrics also gave me a kick up the ass to start seriously learning the language, which helped me broaden my worldview once more. I'm still not great at it to this day, but know enough to read books with some help from the dictionary and be otherwise dangerous. I also met a good online friend through that game who helped me start programming and do what I now do, as well as make a few other friends through him. We're still chatting daily and collaborating on projects nearly 10 years later.
An honorable mention goes to Nier: Automata. I didn't have any particularly life-changing experiences with it compared to the other two, but it is the most important game to me and the first thing that comes to mind when I think about video games. It showed me what kind of experiences the medium of video games could truly be possible of. It is one of those things I wish I could erase my memories for to experience for the first time again. Drakenier music has hacked my brain and I get immediate goosebumps after 2 bars of any track from the OST. Ending E is beautiful and Yoko Taro is a genius. I wish the church was real. Please remake Drakengard for PC. Fuck the Replicant's flower gardening side quest. Glory to mankind.
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Comment on What modern alternatives for webrings are there? in ~tech
pum LinkAre you thinking of IndieWeb's webring by any chance? I've gone on an exploration trip to the old web looking for webrings some time ago. Unfortunately it's mostly a graveyard these days, and I...Are you thinking of IndieWeb's webring by any chance?
I've gone on an exploration trip to the old web looking for webrings some time ago. Unfortunately it's mostly a graveyard these days, and I haven't seen many solutions for discovery for present day sites.
You might be also interested in Marginalia, a search engine for smaller sites.
edit: changed the webring link to point to the website directory as it's a bit hidden on the front page.
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Comment on Japanese Steam user number reaches record high in June in ~games
pum Link ParentI have my doubts about the visual novel hypothesis. VNs sold on Steam have a reputation for being heavily censored, particularly when it comes to anything that might be deemed offensive to Western...I have my doubts about the visual novel hypothesis. VNs sold on Steam have a reputation for being heavily censored, particularly when it comes to anything that might be deemed offensive to Western sensibilities. I couldn't find any information indicating that this policy is different for VNs sold in Japan, so I'm going to assume it's the same over there. Whatever your feelings may be on this matter, I don't think it would make much sense for people who have access to well-established local marketplaces that sell unabridged content to turn to a new platform for lesser experience.
The original Steam survey only reports statistics for the language of the client and not the region it is running in. It could very well be that this uptick is in fact not from purely native Japanese people but also language learners from around the world. It could also be a result of other languages' distribution shifting around, artificially inflating the number. I suspect it's probably a bit of both + the Steam Deck launch, but the data is just too unreliable to draw any significant conclusions.
With all of that said, I personally greatly welcome Japanese developers and gamers embracing the PC platform. It's gotten better in recent years, but PC players have been either completely ignored or given mediocre ports of games for a long time. It's nice to simply expect modern titles to launch on PC at the same time as consoles and work decently well, as well as getting ports and remakes of older titles. Now if only Drakengard could come home...
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Comment on Could we get a ~jokes, ~humor or ~funny group on Tildes? in ~tildes
pum Link ParentThere seems to be a slight mischaracterization here. I can't speak for others, of course, but personally I absolutely love humorous stuff. I laugh at the dumbest things and make jokes all the time...So many here are burned out when it comes to humor
There seems to be a slight mischaracterization here. I can't speak for others, of course, but personally I absolutely love humorous stuff. I laugh at the dumbest things and make jokes all the time — just not on Tildes.
Tildes has an express vision: to foster in-depth content, and that is what I come here for and what I expect to see. I can tell some people (not saying you necessarily) come to Tildes from Reddit with the expectations of another Place for Everything, but I don't think it is (or should be) that. It is far from the only platform on the internet, and I think it's important to preserve what makes it stand out from the rest rather than try to put it in line with others.
Does your idea have to involve Tildes? Can your needs be fulfilled by another platform? How will your proposal fit in with Tildes' goals? These are all questions that are absolutely worth considering first, in my opinion.
And it's not like humor is taboo here, there's just an expectation of it not being the main subject. It's best used like spice: a little bit elevates a dish, but you wouldn't want to eat a whole bowl.
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Comment on Could we get a ~jokes, ~humor or ~funny group on Tildes? in ~tildes
pum Link ParentUltimately this is purely speculation, and we can't really know for sure without seeing it play out in practice. A community's culture is a fragile thing and can easily be overrun by people who...It seems to me the problem of low-hanging jokes you’re describing is already solved and the humor community here will feel different by default.
I bet since the platform is not tailored to low-effort feed-consumption and the community values discussion, the jokes will be unlike what you describe.
Ultimately this is purely speculation, and we can't really know for sure without seeing it play out in practice. A community's culture is a fragile thing and can easily be overrun by people who are not familiar or not interested in the core philosophy if given a platform. We've seen this happen time and again on Reddit, for example, and I've had personal experience with this in communities I myself used to run. Even on Tildes, I feel like there has been a (slightly worrying) uptick in sarcastic, snarky, or confrontational sentiments in comments by people who registered in the past few weeks.
Personally, I do not come to Tildes to be entertained in a traditional sense, and expanding in that direction does not add value for me. While the example you give is not necessarily "low effort", I don't think content like that really amounts to much.
edit: That being said, if communities move to become more independent than they are currently, I wouldn't really care if there was a ~funny if I could simply filter it out.
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Comment on Could we get a ~jokes, ~humor or ~funny group on Tildes? in ~tildes
pum LinkThe problem I see with this type of content is that it mostly creates reaction rather than interaction. The kinds of submissions whose primary purpose is "look at this funny/cool thing" are...The problem I see with this type of content is that it mostly creates reaction rather than interaction. The kinds of submissions whose primary purpose is "look at this funny/cool thing" are naturally suited to passive, feed-based consumption: you see the post, laugh or go "neat", maybe upvote it and move on. They rarely serve as good discussion starters, with comment sections on platforms that allow such content usually devolving into endless chains of low-hanging jokes.
Of course, I also like to veg out and just look at funny/cool things sometimes, but there are other places that are far more suited for that. I think Tildes culture of involved discussions is special and something to be cherished and protected; it doesn't need to become a one-stop shop for everything.
There is no karma here, so an active discussion is about the only reward you can gain by posting anyway. It's best to leave sharing the funnies for friend group chats.
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Comment on Do you play Dave the Diver? What do you like about it? in ~games
pum LinkI'm not sure what you expect to hear. It seems like you've made up your opinion on the game and it's not your cup of tea. If you genuinely want to hear why people like it, there are nearly 20...I'm not sure what you expect to hear. It seems like you've made up your opinion on the game and it's not your cup of tea. If you genuinely want to hear why people like it, there are nearly 20 thousand reviews on steam for you to peruse. Writing from a strongly biased and emotional position ("Generic, bland, basic, homogeneous, repetitive, contrived.") is not any way to start a genuine discussion for the sake of learning something new, and it feels like you're just trying to ragebait others and perhaps yourself.
The game is not for you, so no need to get hung up on it. Nothing to be gained by going on a crusade against the world.
I switched from JetBrains Mono to Hack. :) And I used to think it was the perfect font for me, too. So many of the perceived benefits of one font over another are just placebo, honestly.