redwall_hp's recent activity
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Comment on US judge to baby: file an asylum application in ~society
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Comment on Japan tried to build an operating system for the entire world, then the US government intervened in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentExactly. My expectation is to hear about something, and go to their website for more information. More often these days, what I'm met with is glorified billboards and an aggressive sales funnel...Exactly. My expectation is to hear about something, and go to their website for more information. More often these days, what I'm met with is glorified billboards and an aggressive sales funnel that wants to collect contact information and get you signed up before even telling you how much something costs. If they're not pushing you down an automated path, they're getting you into a CRM so sales people can harass you. Just...no.
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Comment on Japan tried to build an operating system for the entire world, then the US government intervened in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentI view the Mogstation as what the Web should be like. I hate that computing in the US has become glossy magazines and the equivalent of those telephones with giant buttons. Better information...I view the Mogstation as what the Web should be like. I hate that computing in the US has become glossy magazines and the equivalent of those telephones with giant buttons.
Better information density, normal font sizes, page loads represent the state instead of dynamic fluff that breaks expected browser behavior. Give me Ableton or Blender style UIs.
It's not something I end up having to use much, either. I signed up in 2018 and it's basically been set and forget? Maybe I've logged on to buy some emotes occasionally?
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Comment on Young adults in the US are increasingly wary of AI, concerned it will take jobs in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentFortunately, no technology is inevitable or need be tolerated by society. The "good ending" is court cases with discovery of training materials, rightsholders being compensated and executives...Fortunately, no technology is inevitable or need be tolerated by society. The "good ending" is court cases with discovery of training materials, rightsholders being compensated and executives being given prison sentences on the order of people who operated piracy sites, resulting in the whole operations being liquidated to pay their already enormous debts.
I'm hardly one to champion maximizing copyright (usually I think it needs to be scaled back in several key ways), but LLMs have completely sabotaged my world view. They've even soured me on FOSS, which I was a huge believer in, because that just ended up being a massive wealth transfer in the form of training materials for companies that transparently are attacking the software profession.
Unless we're going to overturn every historical civil and criminal copyright case, it's a gross miscarriage of justice for them to get away with this.
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Comment on Sleep struggles: how do I get better sleep quality? in ~life
redwall_hp Link ParentI also recommend trazodone. I grew up in a fairly quiet area and am a light sleeper, and it really helps get to sleep and stay asleep now that I live around city noises...but it's also a very mild...I also recommend trazodone. I grew up in a fairly quiet area and am a light sleeper, and it really helps get to sleep and stay asleep now that I live around city noises...but it's also a very mild drug that pretty much just gives you a short "window" where you're more inclined to fall asleep.
Bonus: its original on-label use is anxiety, and I feel like it's helped with that a bit too.
I also sleep with a white noise and rain noise blend built in to iOS.
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Comment on What are your favourite anime and/or manga? in ~anime
redwall_hp Link ParentI'll be the one to disagree: I think 0 is good. It's different, as it basically is an expanded world line where he gave up before getting things back together, but it's still more Steins; Gate. It...I'll be the one to disagree: I think 0 is good. It's different, as it basically is an expanded world line where he gave up before getting things back together, but it's still more Steins; Gate. It has a really good "he's back" payoff moment, with the same level of shift in energy as the turning point of the original.
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Comment on ‘It finally feels like we’re back in 2019’: US movie theater owners rejoice over $4 billion summer. Can the fall keep the momentum? in ~movies
redwall_hp Link ParentThis has been driving me crazy in my ventures into non-Alamo theaters lately, and I've started wearing ear protection based on my watch's sound level readings. I've been to an Atmos and an IMAX...Horrendous audio mixing, saw The Odyssey, and while it was a good movie I had to spend half the time with my fingers in my ears. Talking scenes were fine but everything else was so goddamn loud it shook the fucking theater.
This has been driving me crazy in my ventures into non-Alamo theaters lately, and I've started wearing ear protection based on my watch's sound level readings. I've been to an Atmos and an IMAX recently, and the volume was painful and dangerously loud. I happened to see the Mandalorian movie twice (with different groups of people). Alamo was reasonable volume, but the Atmos one was exceeding 90db frequently.
Movies necessarily have a fairly wide dynamic range, but theaters are setting their output gain too high, so the peaks in loud scenes are nuts. Realistically, we need legislation to require theaters to take an analysis and adjust the system to not exceed a certain decibel level at the loudest part of the film. It's perfectly expected that a quiet dialogue scene should not be as loud as a scene with people firing guns at each other, but I should be able to expect to not pay to have hearing damage.
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Comment on The Apothecary Diaries | Season 3 main trailer in ~anime
redwall_hp LinkI wasn't expecting this so soon, but very exiting. This is one of the shows I've most impatiently been waiting for more of. I think there's an upcoming movie too?I wasn't expecting this so soon, but very exiting. This is one of the shows I've most impatiently been waiting for more of.
I think there's an upcoming movie too?
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Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentSafari itself has extensions on iOS. I have an ad blocker installed, and I years ago had one that killed Google's AMP links. (It's still installed, but I don't even know if AMP still exists.) They...Safari itself has extensions on iOS. I have an ad blocker installed, and I years ago had one that killed Google's AMP links. (It's still installed, but I don't even know if AMP still exists.)
They have some limitations, and have to be installed via an app bundle, but they do exist as a first party feature.
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Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentEven more historically, online ads were typically pop-up windows, and browsers started shipping features to block them by default. We don't question a web site being unable to open a big ad in...Even more historically, online ads were typically pop-up windows, and browsers started shipping features to block them by default. We don't question a web site being unable to open a big ad in your face and take over your screen, but it used to be typical. We should expect modern popovers and banners to be the same.
I find it annoying that browser vendors had a decades-long period of being hands-off on that front. Ads are often malware or spyware on a technological level, and are malware for your brain to begin with.
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Comment on Elon Musk on tomatoes in ~food
redwall_hp Link ParentJust like how popularity is not a proxy for quality, money is not a proxy for intelligence. Upward social mobility is far less a thing than people imagine it is, and at a certain point of...Just like how popularity is not a proxy for quality, money is not a proxy for intelligence. Upward social mobility is far less a thing than people imagine it is, and at a certain point of pre-existing wealth it becomes difficult to not gain more without being profoundly stupid.
People who are more intelligent tend to self-select out from opportunities to become wealthy. e.g. people who want to do scientific research end up doing just that, often being paid far less to work at a university than their skills might get them in industry. Or they understand statistics and don't take to gambling, so they don't want to risk future well being on wild gambles on the stock market. Or their passion really doesn't pay well (writing, music, etc) and they'd rather pursue that than monetary games.
Also, being self-centered enough to grift and harm other people to make personal score go up is a more useful tool to becoming wealthy and not one which interesting and intelligent people tend to value. If anything, they're more likely to trend toward an obsession with things not being fair.
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Comment on Elon Musk on tomatoes in ~food
redwall_hp Link ParentSaid dismantling has also directly lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths by the destruction of USAID, and it will also contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. People would vilify actual...Said dismantling has also directly lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths by the destruction of USAID, and it will also contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. People would vilify actual world leaders who took actions like that for far less, and I think there are even fewer excuses for a complete non-official who was bizarrely allowed to act in that capacity.
He's also transparently a eugenicist, so he can fuck off for that alone. (Side note: Mickey 17 was worth a watch for the transparent mockery of him alone.)
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Comment on Is it time to include pronouns? in ~tildes
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentJapanese has some similar features, I've learned, and find fascinating: It's generally preferred to not use "you" when talking to someone. (Too familiar/intimate, I infer.) Like "do you like...Japanese has some similar features, I've learned, and find fascinating:
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It's generally preferred to not use "you" when talking to someone. (Too familiar/intimate, I infer.) Like "do you like tacos?" would be phrased more like "Frodo likes tacos?" Or "like Tacos?" Use of name is preferred, but also often omitted casually.
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Talking about someone, again, name use is preferred over a pronoun. There are he/she equivalents (kare/kanojo), but I get the sense they're avoided if possible. It's also common to just say "green shirt person" if you don't know their name.
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There are a metric ton of first person pronouns with nuances that I'm not equipped to fully grasp. (And how gender-aligned some of them are has shifted over time.)
I find it interesting that it sounds intimate and official in Finnish. Those are fairly diametrically opposed in English, usually.
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentThere's actual interesting history about this (side note: I have a HAM license, but haven't touched a radio in a long time). Packet Radio used to be a bit of a thing, with "digipeaters" that acted...There's actual interesting history about this (side note: I have a HAM license, but haven't touched a radio in a long time). Packet Radio used to be a bit of a thing, with "digipeaters" that acted like regular HAM repeaters...and one of the Internet precursors, ALOHAnet, was a packet radio network.
The need for licensing would heavily limit adoption on HAM bands though. Something lower range on Part 15 spectrum is probably more viable. Like WiFi or BLE mesh networks. (BitChat is something along the latter lines.)
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Comment on ‘The Odyssey’ surpasses $1 billion, Christopher Nolan’s first movie since ‘Dark Knight Rises’ to reach coveted box office milestone in ~movies
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentI present "Previously on Avatar," retold with media from Fern Gully, Eiffel 64 and such. Alamo ran this in front of the two newer installments.I present "Previously on Avatar," retold with media from Fern Gully, Eiffel 64 and such. Alamo ran this in front of the two newer installments.
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Comment on Tildos, let's be unserious for a while; show us your dankest memes and god-tier shitposts! in ~talk
redwall_hp Link ParentMicroservices I appreciate the HTTP response and sales ones, as someone who works on kaiju-scale APIs and is currently living the "vague things being sold to a partner and lack of defined...I appreciate the HTTP response and sales ones, as someone who works on kaiju-scale APIs and is currently living the "vague things being sold to a partner and lack of defined requirements and ohbythewaydon'tforgetweneedthis" life.
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentI'm aware phpBB (and paid options like VBulletin and XenForo) are still kicking, and visit a few sites periodically that use them...but I'm not crazy about LAMP stuff (or JS anything, for that...I'm aware phpBB (and paid options like VBulletin and XenForo) are still kicking, and visit a few sites periodically that use them...but I'm not crazy about LAMP stuff (or JS anything, for that matter), despite it having been a formative part of my early forays into programming.
My line of thinking is that the way one spins up a web site has evolved over the years. In the early 2000s, paying a shared hosting provider and FTPing some PHP files that would run in their environment was fairly normal. But that's kind of outdated.
You get a lot more bang for your buck from somewhere like DigitalOcean, Linode, Hetzner, or AWS's VPS option (Light-something?)...and then are in the position of needing to set things up. It's actually easier to have a self-contained binary or JAR that runs its own server (which can be put behind nginx or Caddy) that can be installed through a package manager or Docker pull than messing with PHP-FPM to get your web root to process PHP files. Something like SQLite also removes a dependency on a database server and further reduces memory overhead. I envision aggressive in-process caching as well...especially in our world of LLM crawlers DDoSing forums.
It's something I've toyed with the idea of prototyping, but don't want to commit to or end up being responsible for supporting at this point in time.
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentOh man, I just remembered a relative on my mom's side of the family had a Prodigy email back then. Now I'm trying to remember the other proto-ISP that had a closed network. They're where GIF...Oh man, I just remembered a relative on my mom's side of the family had a Prodigy email back then. Now I'm trying to remember the other proto-ISP that had a closed network. They're where GIF originated.
Edit: CompuServe
I was too young for that stage of computing. My family got our first computer in 1998 and we started with Juno and moved on to AOL a little later. (Then ADSL from a local ISP around 2005.)
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentIt would be really cool to have something like Discourse, but less resource-hungry. Like a Go application that can be easily deployed to cheaper VPSes. A forum could even get away with an SQLite...It would be really cool to have something like Discourse, but less resource-hungry. Like a Go application that can be easily deployed to cheaper VPSes. A forum could even get away with an SQLite database, since it's heavy read, low write and expected to only have one server instance.
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentI've never done Usenet, but have been aware of its existence since I started using computers as a kid in the late 90s. My understanding was it was a function of new groups of people getting online...I've never done Usenet, but have been aware of its existence since I started using computers as a kid in the late 90s. My understanding was it was a function of new groups of people getting online and starting with something else...much like how many people now only use the Web on a smartphone and only come in contact with a handful of companies providing centralized services. It's just what they're familiar with.
In the 90s, people joining the Internet were doing so for the Web, because it was the hot new thing (even if they didn't necessarily grasp that distinction). They were there for Yahoo and eBay and Hotmail and such. They clicked the blue E on Windows and used the paved road of software directing them to what they actually wanted. The typical person wasn't thinking about how networks work or picking out software.
Also, we had ISPs like America On Line, which were trying to build a curated gated community. So many people's experience with the Internet then was through that. One stop for email, web browsing and chat functionality. AIM was huge. My grandma was able to use AIM and make voice calls.
Person who literally has the authority to declare something unconscionably stupid and malign chooses the direct opposite.