rkcr's recent activity

  2. Comment on Gloomy Van Gogh self-portrait in Oslo gallery confirmed authentic – only known painting by Dutch master while he had psychosis is 'unmistakably' his work in ~arts

    rkcr
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    This podcast has forever ruined the idea of art authentication for me. Basically, all the incentive is to verify as authentic, so suspicious stuff gets authenticated all the time.

    This podcast has forever ruined the idea of art authentication for me. Basically, all the incentive is to verify as authentic, so suspicious stuff gets authenticated all the time.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Amtrak Asks 2 People Who Use Wheelchairs To Pay $25,000 For A Ride in ~misc

  4. Comment on A software engineer's advice for saving social media: keep it small in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    IMO, a big aspect of small networks is that they're not competing with the big names. I don't want random people in my small chats; I just want my friends.

    IMO, a big aspect of small networks is that they're not competing with the big names. I don't want random people in my small chats; I just want my friends.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on A software engineer's advice for saving social media: keep it small in ~tech

    rkcr
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    You don't need federation to create a small social community. I'm in a number of small social Slack instances, a lack of federation doesn't make it any less social.

    You don't need federation to create a small social community. I'm in a number of small social Slack instances, a lack of federation doesn't make it any less social.

    7 votes

  8. Comment on Sanders climbs, now tied with Biden among registered voters: Reuters poll in ~news

  9. Comment on What are your unpopular game opinions? in ~games

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    I must begrudgingly give this a vote since it's the only opinion in here (thus far) that caught me off guard and I completely disagree with. That said, I don't approve of yucking someone's yum.

    I must begrudgingly give this a vote since it's the only opinion in here (thus far) that caught me off guard and I completely disagree with. That said, I don't approve of yucking someone's yum.

    28 votes

  13. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    rkcr
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    In general I only buy games when I intend to play them immediately, but in a moment of weakness I bought two extra games during the Steam summer sale last year. This week I made up for it by...

    In general I only buy games when I intend to play them immediately, but in a moment of weakness I bought two extra games during the Steam summer sale last year. This week I made up for it by actually playing one of them: SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech.

    I'm not that far in, but I'm enjoying it a lot more than Slay the Spire. StS felt too random and haphazard; I did not want to try to cobble together a strategy from whatever the RNG gave me on a particular run, I wanted to try specific strategies. SteamWorld Quest is a lot better for that purpose, as the cards you unlock are preset for each chapter.

    I heard it was on the easier side, so I went in on the hardest difficulty, and that's presented a decent challenge. The combat system is not that complex (so far), but it's interesting enough. The writing is passable, too.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link
    Some of the patents look like the garbage that somehow gets approved for software companies. For example, "method and apparatus for adjusting volume levels in a multi-zone system" is just a volume...

    Some of the patents look like the garbage that somehow gets approved for software companies. For example, "method and apparatus for adjusting volume levels in a multi-zone system" is just a volume controller with multiple knobs, and "multi-channel pairing in a media system" looks like the ability to pair more than one speaker with software.

    I wonder how well this will hold up in court; some of the patents might have merit.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on Sandman to Hark! A Vagrant: The best comics of the decade in ~books

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    I'm not getting down on the article (it's a good list!), nor am I looking for some sort of objective measurement for opinions. I'm more just musing on the general practice of grouping all graphic...

    I'm not getting down on the article (it's a good list!), nor am I looking for some sort of objective measurement for opinions. I'm more just musing on the general practice of grouping all graphic novels as if they are all the same genre, which I don't feel happens nearly as often for other types of books.

    As an example, the Guardian has a summary of the best books of 2019 split up by genre, and graphic novels is a genre of its own, as if it were a similar genre to sports books, or memoirs, or fiction (which itself is split into multiple sub-genres!).

    6 votes

  18. Comment on Sandman to Hark! A Vagrant: The best comics of the decade in ~books

    rkcr
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    I've read about half of the comics listed here and my mixed opinions about them reinforces the foolishness of lumping all comics together as a category. How are you supposed to compare such wildly...

    I've read about half of the comics listed here and my mixed opinions about them reinforces the foolishness of lumping all comics together as a category. How are you supposed to compare such wildly different genres as a gag strip (Hark! A Vagrant), a superhero comic (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), a sci-fi drama (Patience), a historical fiction drama (Berlin), and whatever the hell Prince of Cats is?

    It'd be like categorizing all non-graphic novels as "wordies" and then just listing their 10 favorites, which includes one fiction novel, one travel guide, one memoir, one collection of short stories, and one history textbook. It's just a weird.

    That said, this article is as good a place as any to get started on some new comics.

    7 votes

  19. Comment on The Principle of Charitable Interpretation in ~humanities

    rkcr
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    I would like to think that Tildes is founded on this principle. I mean that sincerely.

    I would like to think that Tildes is founded on this principle. I mean that sincerely.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on How tracking pixels work in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link
    One additional suggestion to avoid tracking pixels: turn off automatic image loading in emails (Gmail example here). The suggestions the author makes are great for a browser, but tracking pixels...

    One additional suggestion to avoid tracking pixels: turn off automatic image loading in emails (Gmail example here). The suggestions the author makes are great for a browser, but tracking pixels in emails will still get loaded by your smartphone otherwise.

    3 votes