rahmad's recent activity
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Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv
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Comment on Autopsy report as novel intro? How? in ~creative
rahmad Link ParentMost people are not subject matter experts in any given thing... And a true subject matter expert will always find a way to poke a hole in things. Such is their way. When an audience is compelled,...Most people are not subject matter experts in any given thing... And a true subject matter expert will always find a way to poke a hole in things. Such is their way.
When an audience is compelled, much is forgiven -- but you're right -- it needs to feel realistic and authentic (if that's the target mood).
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Comment on Autopsy report as novel intro? How? in ~creative
rahmad LinkMy two cents, your duty is to the story and that thing inside it that will pull the reader forward. You'll get a lot, obviously, from studying source material, but I wouldn't get too hung up on...My two cents, your duty is to the story and that thing inside it that will pull the reader forward.
You'll get a lot, obviously, from studying source material, but I wouldn't get too hung up on authenticity. That should come second.
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Comment on Is the current war in Palestine the first time the victim wound up being seen as the aggressor? in ~humanities.history
rahmad LinkI don't understand what frame of reference you are using to generate 'victim' and 'aggressor' -- the answer depends entirely on who you ask, doesn't it?I don't understand what frame of reference you are using to generate 'victim' and 'aggressor' -- the answer depends entirely on who you ask, doesn't it?
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Comment on Google is testing the ‘impact’ of removing EU news from search results in ~tech
rahmad Link ParentYou make some valid points, but I think you're off base in a couple areas: Discovery is a feature, and a desirable product. The pre-google internet was basically not an internet yet. It was many...You make some valid points, but I think you're off base in a couple areas:
Google doesn't produce anything of actual value.
Discovery is a feature, and a desirable product. The pre-google internet was basically not an internet yet. It was many internets, and maybe you were savvy enough to navigate some of them.
Not as accessible as today's is, by a long shot. Sure, it's dropped from peak quality, but fast, easy, relevant discovery was revolutionary as it formed and finally peaked with Google.
Perhaps Google Maps (especially Street View) have a good amount of content that Google actually directly invested in producing... and even that isn't so much "original content" as it is simply original documentation of things in the world built by others.
This minimizes how massive a product maps and Google geo in general is, not just from a discovery point of view, but from a wayfinding one. Incredibly sophisticated pathfinding, often integrating tens of millions of real-time data points.
When was the last time your answer to 'when will I get there' was 'i don't know and there's simply no way to be sure.'
That reality basically no longer exists because of stuff products like maps enable with what they have under the hood.
Those capabilities -- 'to increase usability of other things' -- are feature, product and 'content' even if they are not the same as writing a blog post or putting a brick and mortar shop up.
It feels like saying Adobe doesn't produce anything of value because ultimately it's the artists who do all the work.
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Comment on Mindless games, preferably mobile in ~games
rahmad Link ParentI find there are worse daily habits than those that take a few minutes and maybe teach me a thing or two.I find there are worse daily habits than those that take a few minutes and maybe teach me a thing or two.
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Comment on Mindless games, preferably mobile in ~games
rahmad (edited )Link ParentThe first three are great. The last is new to me. Thanks! Exit: Yes, I completely love this. It is very much like Travle which, despite being a fairly regular habit, has failed to teach me a...The first three are great. The last is new to me. Thanks!
Exit: Yes, I completely love this. It is very much like Travle which, despite being a fairly regular habit, has failed to teach me a comprehensive map of Africa.
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Comment on Games with complex-required-supporting-real-e2e logistics? in ~games
rahmad LinkThe best example of that I've seen is Ingress. At the normal scale, it's tug of war, blue vs. green. There is no clear end-point, simply the fun of building and destruction But during some live...The best example of that I've seen is Ingress.
At the normal scale, it's tug of war, blue vs. green. There is no clear end-point, simply the fun of building and destruction
But during some live ops, when things get bounded in time and with distinct goals, global scale communities form, strategize, plan and execute operations with real humans in real places doing wild, incredible things. People have flown into remote places in Alaska to complete an op, coordinated false flags across an entire country to 'sneak a play' around the North Pole, sent mountain climbing units out with sat phones to execute key plays at the exact right time. In less extraordinary moments, small 'military style's units form, are tasked and operated from eyes in the sky towards the master plan. Resource planning and acquisition is months in the making. Folks have even recruited pilots and stewards into the game to increase the frequency of item transfers between far locations.
The logistics are completely emergent from the win state, timeline and gamerules, but their complexity exceeds anything else I can think of.
It's less played now than it was ten or so years ago, but it still has a pretty diehard core user group that keep things interesting.
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Comment on A review of the Lego Mini Chef restaurant in Denmark – in which a meal prepared by tiny plastic people sparks a revelation about hospitality in ~food
rahmad Linkit's a pretty thin article, both in length and depth, but this bit at the end was nicely put:it's a pretty thin article, both in length and depth, but this bit at the end was nicely put:
When the celebrity chef’s name is over the door, I believe in their input, though I know they’ve not been in the kitchen in years. When I’m told an ingredient was “foraged”, I imagine the cooks stalking through the forest at dawn rather than ordering from a supplier. The same is true when they tell me the steak comes from a deliriously happy cow or was aged in salt-walled vaults, and the sommelier tells me about wine made in some ancient château or stewed in a hipster’s bucket. It’s all a gigantic exercise in consensual self-delusion that we embrace with unquestioning zeal.
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Comment on A review of the Lego Mini Chef restaurant in Denmark – in which a meal prepared by tiny plastic people sparks a revelation about hospitality in ~food
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Comment on Thoughts on a Democratic postmortem in ~society
rahmad LinkI specifically want to reply to this idea: This is a false notion. Progression on social ideas is not linear to time, and cultures move 'backwards' constantly. I put backwards in air quotes since...I specifically want to reply to this idea:
Thatcher won the U.K. in 1979, so it should be possible in the U.S. in 2024).
This is a false notion. Progression on social ideas is not linear to time, and cultures move 'backwards' constantly. I put backwards in air quotes since that direction is relative to us, but again, there's no universal bearing here.
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Comment on Mindless games, preferably mobile in ~games
rahmad Link ParentMy rule of thumb is, unless you have to spend a couple bucks, it's probably best to avoid that game... I've met my fair share of F2Ps, and never met one I liked.My rule of thumb is, unless you have to spend a couple bucks, it's probably best to avoid that game... I've met my fair share of F2Ps, and never met one I liked.
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Comment on Mindless games, preferably mobile in ~games
rahmad LinkConsider boomshine, holedown, suika, minimetro, railbound. It's not entirely clear which game will scratch your itch, but there are 'forgiving about being locked into screen', 'focus' but no... -
Comment on Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in five games in ~sports.baseball
rahmad Link ParentThis, while amusing, I suspect needs context. I have none.This, while amusing, I suspect needs context. I have none.
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Comment on Character amnesia in China in ~humanities.languages
rahmad Link ParentThe etymology is useful, but even bureau doesn't quite roll off my brain (autocorrect just fixed that for me...)The etymology is useful, but even bureau doesn't quite roll off my brain (autocorrect just fixed that for me...)
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Comment on Character amnesia in China in ~humanities.languages
rahmad Link ParentBureaucracy is one of the hardest to spell (and hardest spelling to remember of a relatively common word) words in English (imo). I never get it right on the first shot, despite conscious efforts...Bureaucracy is one of the hardest to spell (and hardest spelling to remember of a relatively common word) words in English (imo). I never get it right on the first shot, despite conscious efforts to try and harden its memory.
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Comment on Goodbye, floppies - San Francisco pays Hitachi $212 million to remove 5.25-inch disks from its light rail service in ~tech
rahmad Link ParentIn the early 90's -- to be fair I was young and not really in the business world -- but I feel like technology was not quite as 'rapidly deprecating' -- nor as completely. I think it's viewed as...In the early 90's -- to be fair I was young and not really in the business world -- but I feel like technology was not quite as 'rapidly deprecating' -- nor as completely.
I think it's viewed as fairly normal now that formats are replaced, when they are replaced they are replaced quite fully, and that the pace of that replacement is fairly rapid. I'm just not sure we were there in the early '90s. VHS and beta had their big battle, but it felt like that took about a decade to play out. Maybe the CD was on the horizon, don't think it was really mainstream, and I'm pretty sure I was rocking audio cassettes from basically the mid-80s to the early 2000s with no concept that this format was already done.
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Comment on Recommend some new(ish) metal bands in ~music
rahmad LinkI don't know if post rock is metal enough to be considered metal, but I think there are probably some overlaps: if that's true for you, Isis, Pelican, Russian Circles, Jakob, sleepmakewaves are...I don't know if post rock is metal enough to be considered metal, but I think there are probably some overlaps: if that's true for you, Isis, Pelican, Russian Circles, Jakob, sleepmakewaves are really excellent. And of course there's always Neurosis but at that point one isn't trading in 'new' by a long shot.
Spiritbox is another one I came across recently that was probably closer to traditional metal tempo and structure that I quite liked.
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Comment on Synthetic diamonds are now purer, more beautiful, and vastly cheaper than mined diamonds. Beating nature took decades of hard graft and millions of pounds of pressure. in ~science
rahmad Link ParentBy merit of being here, in this tiny, self-selected, obscure corner of the English speaking Internet, we are, not possibly, but most definitely not in the kind of circles where rocks and...By merit of being here, in this tiny, self-selected, obscure corner of the English speaking Internet, we are, not possibly, but most definitely not in the kind of circles where rocks and signifiers of their ilk have value in a way that escapes our comprehension.
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Comment on What is NaNoWriMo's position on Artificial Intelligence (AI)? in ~creative
rahmad Link ParentI appreciate what you are saying, but for a person who could use an adaptive technology, for example a gaze driven keyboard, to eek out a sentence or two per minute, to drive something that could...I appreciate what you are saying, but for a person who could use an adaptive technology, for example a gaze driven keyboard, to eek out a sentence or two per minute, to drive something that could accurately express their intent in fuller language at a speed that matches 'abled conversation ' would be immensely empowering.
Adaptive tech can enable, but it cannot always equalize. There is much room for improvement and augmentation of the existing tools in that space.
The Last Airbender.
Tokyo Vice.