redwall_hp's recent activity
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Comment on Genshin Impact game developer will be banned from selling lootboxes to teens under 16 without parental consent, pay a $20 million fine to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges in ~games
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Comment on Genshin Impact game developer will be banned from selling lootboxes to teens under 16 without parental consent, pay a $20 million fine to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges in ~games
redwall_hp Link ParentValve definitely came to mind when I was writing that. I remember TF2 was awful about it...every time you'd die and respawn, you could get random drops of items and crates. And the rates would...Valve definitely came to mind when I was writing that. I remember TF2 was awful about it...every time you'd die and respawn, you could get random drops of items and crates. And the rates would slowly fill up your inventory, but you'd have to pay something like $3 for a key to open it...and probably get absolute junk. It created a nasty feeling of pressure to buy the keys, which I only tried a couple of times and regretted.
And now we have underground casinos where people bet multi-hundred-dollar Counter-Strike weapon skins...
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Comment on Genshin Impact game developer will be banned from selling lootboxes to teens under 16 without parental consent, pay a $20 million fine to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges in ~games
redwall_hp (edited )LinkSmells like more sinophobic protectionism, to go with the TikTok action and saber-rattling about CATL. Genshin is probably one of the least questionable games with a gacha mechanic: They give you...Smells like more sinophobic protectionism, to go with the TikTok action and saber-rattling about CATL.
Genshin is probably one of the least questionable games with a gacha mechanic:
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They give you a game that's perfectly playable without spending a cent, which has a depth of content dwarfing Breath of the Wild (which is probably the most similar game).
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Just playing through quests throws sizable amounts of the in-game currency at you, which you can spend on gacha pulls for new characters...which are completely optional. They also throw a ton more at you when they do seasonal events, or as "compensation" for downtime during updates.
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The game is fully playable with free characters, though the five star ranked ones do have an edge, but being a predominantly single player game, the pressure to have the best is relatively minor. Though, also to their credit, characters all have unique abilities and slightly different mechanics, so it's not just taking money for a cosmetic thing.
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Odds for gacha pulls are prominently advertised on the page where you do them. Like the 1600 primogems for a 10-pull is guaranteed at least one four-star character or weapon, and ten of those will definitely have a five star character sometime in that span. In practice, it's random, and you may have far better luck.
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Purchasing primogems directly to binge on pulls would indeed be wildly expensive, but it's also...not really something I've ever seen anyone do? At most, you pay $5 to get 30 days of login rewards (3000 total gems) in the lead up to a banner you want, since it nets you an extra 10-pull. Buying them outright is buried several menus deep, and it's clear that $x = y premium currency, which exchanges 1:1 for gems for pulls if you choose to do that rather than using it on other shop offerings.
Side order of gacha aside, it's an amazing cultural export that has a massive fan base worldwide. You can't go to any sort of anime or cosplay adjacent event without seeing Genshin stuff.
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Comment on US Supreme Court unanimously backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentOr 2.5: the app only serves videos showing a list of the senators and congresspeople responsible, based on the user's state, and a message saying they're responsible. Bipartisan support for taking...Or 2.5: the app only serves videos showing a list of the senators and congresspeople responsible, based on the user's state, and a message saying they're responsible.
Bipartisan support for taking the circus away, and with Trump tariffs promising to make bread very expensive, isn't a good look. The midterm elections would be wild.
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Comment on US Supreme Court unanimously backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company in ~tech
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentHe's endorsing a party known to be neonazi as well (Alternative fur Deutschland). So if we have two oligarchs owning the majority of "approved" social networking platforms, and using them to...He's endorsing a party known to be neonazi as well (Alternative fur Deutschland). So if we have two oligarchs owning the majority of "approved" social networking platforms, and using them to promote right-wing extremism, that means TikTok is the primary bastion of sanity (at least that the masses use)...
And Facebook actually has a proven track record of electoral manipulation, considering the Cambridge Analytica scandal surrounding the 2016 election of Trump.
Every accusation aimed at TikTok (as much as I dislike both channel-flipping and vertical video) is an admission of how our government and oligarchs view domestic social networking platforms: as tools to manipulate the public, hide information from them, and surveil. And it's a bald faced affront to the first amendment, no matter what legal tap dancing is done to justify it.
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Comment on South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested as agencies probe his short-lived martial law decree in ~society
redwall_hp Link ParentI wasn't aware Reagan had used it too...but given that that party has been obsessed with Reagan for pretty much my whole life, that adds up. (And they finally found someone with equal levels of...I wasn't aware Reagan had used it too...but given that that party has been obsessed with Reagan for pretty much my whole life, that adds up. (And they finally found someone with equal levels of cognitive decline to be a replacement...) So it's even more formulaic and memetic than I thought.
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Comment on South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested as agencies probe his short-lived martial law decree in ~society
redwall_hp Link Parent"Make Britain Great Again" (because Great Britain) was UKIP's slogan around the time of the Brexit vote. That was stolen wholesale by Trump."Make Britain Great Again" (because Great Britain) was UKIP's slogan around the time of the Brexit vote. That was stolen wholesale by Trump.
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Comment on Texas sues Allstate Insurance over its collection of driver data in ~transport
redwall_hp Link ParentIf you have two or three data sets with some overlapping properties, you can deduce with very high certainty who someone is. For example, if I'm Allstate, I know your home address. If I have a set...- Exemplary
If you have two or three data sets with some overlapping properties, you can deduce with very high certainty who someone is.
For example, if I'm Allstate, I know your home address. If I have a set of location histories from GasBuddy, I just need to look for a phone that tends to be around that address for a few hours every night in your time zone. That narrows it down pretty far...and that's just by analyzing the location data itself. (Life360 is basically malware people voluntarily install, so I'm sure it has even more data.)
An installed app can collect other information that can be cross referenced, and if you've installed the Allstate app, there's a pretty good chance both apps can build a fingerprint to connect their data sets just by various device identifiers. iOS and Android try to sort of keep unique hardware identifiers, like your IMEI or MAC addresses, from leaking to apps these days, but various ID numbers have been used for tracking purposes.
With so many apps secretly selling data to brokers, there are many ways that data from a few apps can be put together to unanonymize location data.
Location data also exposes a lot once you put a name to it, because many things can be inferred. You could filter by people who work for a company, simply by looking for phones that are there during office hours every day. You could then look for interesting places those phones go, other phones they spend time around, etc. and you have instant groundwork for blackmail if you're trying to do social engineering.
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Comment on Nintendo Switch release reactions in ~games
redwall_hp Link ParentSplatoon 3, easily. Most of my time on the Switch is easily Splatoon 2 and 3. Though it is officially at the end as far as new content and events go, because a new one is probably on the way for...Splatoon 3, easily. Most of my time on the Switch is easily Splatoon 2 and 3. Though it is officially at the end as far as new content and events go, because a new one is probably on the way for the new Switch...
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
redwall_hp Link ParentI also picked it up recently, because the current map this "season" is Japan themed (with an overpowered katana available)...and a Hatsune Miku collaboration is on the way soon as well. I'm not...I also picked it up recently, because the current map this "season" is Japan themed (with an overpowered katana available)...and a Hatsune Miku collaboration is on the way soon as well. I'm not sure what the map usually looks like, but it's quite nice right now.
Overall, it reminds me of when Team Fortress 2 was popular, but battle royale instead of payload race or capture the flag. It's not a bad game for when I don't feel like focusing as much. At least, until you get down to ten players, then it can get intense.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
redwall_hp Link ParentI randomly learned of JamieP recently because I happened across the surrealism of Shrimp Miku. GigaP also recently released the Vocaloid version of the No Title on streaming, at long last. So now...I randomly learned of JamieP recently because I happened across the surrealism of Shrimp Miku.
GigaP also recently released the Vocaloid version of the No Title on streaming, at long last. So now we have the album versions of Hibikase, Drop Pop Candy and No Title on Spotify and such. The only version on commercial streaming for years is the version with Reol singing, which definitely isn't bad, but those don't fit on my Vocaloid playlists. (Related to that, I didn't put a video link for the song names No Title, because only the Reol version has been officially released in video form to date; the No Title+ Miku version is only on that album.)
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Comment on Lithium and alkaline AA batteries tested by Project farm in ~science
redwall_hp Link ParentI like that idea, though unfortunately mine are in areas that are probably too shaded (and being in an apartment complex there are limited options). I'm kind of contemplating looking for...I like that idea, though unfortunately mine are in areas that are probably too shaded (and being in an apartment complex there are limited options).
I'm kind of contemplating looking for alternative cameras at this point though, because I feel like they're deliberately making the experience progressively worse if you record to the base station instead of using their cloud subscription...
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Comment on Lithium and alkaline AA batteries tested by Project farm in ~science
redwall_hp Link ParentBlink doorbells pretty much only take "Energizer Ultimate Lithium" single use batteries for this reason. They start at 1.8V and drop more gradually than alkaline, ending up at 1.4V. Regular...Blink doorbells pretty much only take "Energizer Ultimate Lithium" single use batteries for this reason. They start at 1.8V and drop more gradually than alkaline, ending up at 1.4V. Regular alkaline batteries read as half dead almost immediately and don't last very long overall.
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Comment on Matt Mullenweg deactivates WordPress accounts of contributors planning a fork in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentWordPress is a fork of the B2 blogging tool. After the author stopped updating it, it diverged into WordPress and b2evolution.WordPress is a fork of the B2 blogging tool. After the author stopped updating it, it diverged into WordPress and b2evolution.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
redwall_hp LinkI just started The Apothecary Diaries, after having it recommended to me a year ago. (Just in time for season two...) It's set in a sort of fictionalized China, where an apothecary's daughter is...I just started The Apothecary Diaries, after having it recommended to me a year ago. (Just in time for season two...) It's set in a sort of fictionalized China, where an apothecary's daughter is kidnapped and sold to work on indenture, as support staff for the Emperor's auxiliary palace, where he keeps his thousand concubines. It is quickly discovered that she's literate and has medicinal knowledge, so she ends up doing medical/detective work, investigating things like poisonings and other products of court intrigue.
The artwork looks impressive, and the character also turns into a semi-chibi cat gremlin when emoting sometimes.
We're also getting a new season of Doctor Stone and the second half of the current Re:Zero season this winter, so I'll be watching those soon.
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Comment on Is there any escape from the Spotify syndrome? in ~music
redwall_hp (edited )Link ParentYep. This also applies to advertisement revenue for free accounts. It's pooled in the same way, minus the 30% that Spotify keeps. My understanding is they're still obligated to pay at least the...Yep. This also applies to advertisement revenue for free accounts. It's pooled in the same way, minus the 30% that Spotify keeps.
My understanding is they're still obligated to pay at least the $0.0031/stream minimum royalty rate set by the federal CRB (unless I'm mistaken), but in practice the pro rata model will pay more than that for popular artists. The pro rata scheme is fairly well known to work out to roughly $0.003-0.005/stream on average, at least.
Then they round payouts down and don't pay rightsholders that make less than some number of cents in a year.
And, as I noted elsewhere in the thread, before streaming, the norm was to pay $0.99/track from iTunes. (Or pirate, more likely.) Apple would take 30%, so rights holders would get about $0.69 per track. (Note that artists signed to labels are getting a small fraction of any revenue source.) That works out to maybe 200 streams being roughly equivalent to one sale...which is very reasonable, given I easily listen to songs that much or more over a couple of years, and the threshold to try a song and save it to a playlist is far lower than paying $0.99 based on a ten second preview. It's continuous revenue.
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Comment on TikTok says it plans to shut down site for US unless Supreme Court strikes down law forcing it to sell in ~tech
redwall_hp Link ParentPresumably the server API would not remain compatible with an old client in the long term, unless they chose to deliberately limit future development to service a non-growing pool of users who...Presumably the server API would not remain compatible with an old client in the long term, unless they chose to deliberately limit future development to service a non-growing pool of users who can't receive updates.
Realistically, they should just geoblock the US and say "your shitty government is to blame" while they have the eyeballs.
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Comment on Tencent designated as a Chinese military company by US in ~tech
redwall_hp LinkApparently they put CATL, the world's largest EV battery company, on the list as well. (They make much of the batteries Tesla uses, so I'm sure L Ron Musk isn't going to be thrilled about that...Apparently they put CATL, the world's largest EV battery company, on the list as well. (They make much of the batteries Tesla uses, so I'm sure L Ron Musk isn't going to be thrilled about that either.)
More straight up protectionist bullshit. Can the boomers fuck off with romanticizing their Cold War youth? We don't need another one.
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Comment on Is there any escape from the Spotify syndrome? in ~music
redwall_hp Link ParentThat makes sense, too. I guess "genre-centric" would have made more sense.That makes sense, too. I guess "genre-centric" would have made more sense.
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Comment on Is there any escape from the Spotify syndrome? in ~music
redwall_hp Link ParentThis is very rock-centric. Other genres have not released on albums for decades. New Order's Blue Monday was the best selling 12" single of all time. Dance music had been coming as singles since...This is very rock-centric. Other genres have not released on albums for decades.
New Order's Blue Monday was the best selling 12" single of all time. Dance music had been coming as singles since the disco days in the 70s, and that progressed to 12" ones because they could hold longer tracks and were easier for DJs to work with. Now, EDM genres still primarily release tracks as singles.
Most of the J-Pop I listen to drops as singles too, either because it's independents expecting a YouTube/NicoNico audience or because the song was made for an anime opening.
In Genshin, for example, if you buy things on a PlayStation or iOS, such as a month of Wellkin Moon or a batch of the premium currency, it won't be available on other platforms when you log in.