screenbeard's recent activity

  1. Comment on Are critics and audiences starting to sour on Marvel movies? in ~movies

    screenbeard
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    This is exactly my issue right now. I love the MCU, and as someone who loves the messy stories in comic books I can't overstate how genuinely thrilling it was to see a grand multi-movie arc take...

    The MCU does not have a central focus to hold it all together like it did with Thanos.

    This is exactly my issue right now. I love the MCU, and as someone who loves the messy stories in comic books I can't overstate how genuinely thrilling it was to see a grand multi-movie arc take place and be resolved so satisfyingly. The latest wave just isn't grabbing me the same way.

    For example, we had the What If... series showing us a "multiverse", then Loki exploring (teasing really) what happens when the controls put in place to keep that from unraveling are taken away, then the promise of a Multiverse of Madness that in practice was not much more multiversal than what we've seen in Star Trek recently.

    All in all it's left me feeling like the properties are meandering, waiting for something big to happen. I'm sure some of that is due to higher expectations, and if you looked at the first string of movies objectively you'd probably say the same thing prior to Infinity War, but it's got me a bit worried. I haven't "cooled" so much as gotten to the point I'm less confident that they won't f*ck it up, like they have with Star Wars, if that makes sense.

    In the lead up to Infinity War I was cautiously optimistic that they could pull it off a massive multi-movie spectacular, but I was tempering that with lower expectations. Now they've done it once, I paradoxically have more riding on them not messing it up the second time, but think they inevitably will.

    3 votes
  2. Comment on What lesser known intellectual properties you would like to see in movies or TV shows? in ~talk

    screenbeard
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    Some narrative podcasts I've loved deserve to be more well known with a TV show. The Red Panda Adventures by Decoder Ring Theatre is about a pre WW2 Canadian super hero duo fighting crime, then...

    Some narrative podcasts I've loved deserve to be more well known with a TV show. The Red Panda Adventures by Decoder Ring Theatre is about a pre WW2 Canadian super hero duo fighting crime, then the rise of Nazis, then in the war itself. It had a base 120 episode run and it's super satisfying.

    Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars is comedy western recorded in the style of old Time Radio by Thrilling Adventure Hour. The writing reminds me of the best of Joss Whedon, back when he was making Buffy and Firefly. Early episodes even have guest appearances by Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. It's good silly fun.

    3 votes
  3. Comment on Man who paid $2.9m for NFT of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet set to lose almost $2.9m in ~finance

    screenbeard
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    Kinda hard to feel sorry for a guy who has 2.9 million dollars to drop on the concept of a single tweet. And disappointed that this guardian article reads more like a press release for the guy to...

    Kinda hard to feel sorry for a guy who has 2.9 million dollars to drop on the concept of a single tweet.

    And disappointed that this guardian article reads more like a press release for the guy to hype it up more than the pointing and laughing it should be.

    2 votes
  4. Comment on My experience switching to Linux and the need for guidance in ~tech

    screenbeard
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    I'll hijack @pistos thread to say, I once believed I needed to understand the origins and reasons for why the Linux base file system was the way it is. I thought understanding the logic for /etc...

    I'll hijack @pistos thread to say, I once believed I needed to understand the origins and reasons for why the Linux base file system was the way it is. I thought understanding the logic for /etc and /var would help make it simpler to use. What I discovered with use and time was that often the answer is unsatisfying (from a usability stand point at least) and it often comes down to "because that's where the first person who did it put it".

    There are still gaps in my knowledge today - I've never piped /dev/{device} anywhere - but those are things I saw power users doing 20 years ago because Linux was not as user friendly as it is today, and most of the non-obvious stuff I need to do for my job is well-trodden territory that has lots of resources online.

    So don't feel like you have to understand BEFORE you just start doing. A lot of it you'll just pick up by osmosis over time, and seeing the same things come up as you fix problems and try new things. It sounds like you have the basics of navigation, and that's often enough to dive in.

    2 votes
  5. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes

    screenbeard
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    I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.

    I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.

    3 votes
  6. Comment on Can you be a good billionaire? in ~humanities

    screenbeard
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    The first question the author poses made me think of J.K. Rowling, who in 2016 was thought to be a billionaire. However by 2017 she was thought to be sitting on about 600M due to philanthropy and...

    The first question the author poses made me think of J.K. Rowling, who in 2016 was thought to be a billionaire. However by 2017 she was thought to be sitting on about 600M due to philanthropy and happily paying the highest possible UK tax bracket.

    While I don't agree with her more recent anti-trans activism, she was the first billionaire I thought of who maybe got there without the labour of millions of others (not directly by being CEO anyway) and therefore not being "evil" in the sense this article uses. The fact she gave so much away and didn't hoard it to continue being a billionaire makes her the perfect example of the exception that proves the rule: she wasn't evil, gave it away and is no longer a billionaire.

    22 votes
  7. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~design

    screenbeard
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    Her design was so good even Star Wars stole it for the release of Empire Strikes Back

    Her design was so good even Star Wars stole it for the release of Empire Strikes Back

    2 votes
  8. Comment on You got a one way ticket to 200 years into the future. Do you go? in ~talk

    screenbeard
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    I'd be worried this would be some monkey's paw bullshit and the orbit of earth puts it on the other side of the sun 200 years from now.

    I'd be worried this would be some monkey's paw bullshit and the orbit of earth puts it on the other side of the sun 200 years from now.

    1 vote
  9. Comment on Discord celebrates six years, changes logo and font in ~design

    screenbeard
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    Maybe they should try and get bought out by Disney, and over time people will forget it's even a word and just think it's pronounced Diz-cord.

    Maybe they should try and get bought out by Disney, and over time people will forget it's even a word and just think it's pronounced Diz-cord.

    2 votes
  10. Comment on The existence of God and the beginning of the universe in ~humanities

    screenbeard
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    I'm not one of those, but I have a hard time giving it it's due because it's mixing philosophical arguments with scientific theories. The argument relies on statements of fact from some of the...

    Atheist rhetoricians who aren't educated in philosophy rarely give the argument it's proper due.

    I'm not one of those, but I have a hard time giving it it's due because it's mixing philosophical arguments with scientific theories. The argument relies on statements of fact from some of the leading theories we have, but then uses them as the basis for strict logical arguments. It would be like saying "if gravity exists such has been proven by scientist A, and galaxies are spinning faster than they should as per scientist B, then God must be pedalling faster and causing the galaxies to spin beyond what science can explain".

    I'm not a philosopher, I'm not a scientist, so I'm not going to be able to argue this to the degree I'd like to, but all his arguments and rhetoric just seem like slight of hand to me, like those proofs that show 1=2 by using bad maths that the layman won't catch, that take a serious mathematician time to disect and analyse to find where the proof took a misstep.

    5 votes
  11. Comment on The existence of God and the beginning of the universe in ~humanities

    screenbeard
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    I don't think TT is making an argument that must be addressed so much as responding to the question of "why we cannot all just get along" asked by mrbig. I'll paraphrase partly as I understand...

    I don't think TT is making an argument that must be addressed so much as responding to the question of "why we cannot all just get along" asked by mrbig. I'll paraphrase partly as I understand TT's response and partly from my own opinion as an atheist, but I don't disagree that the thing before the beginning of time could be the Christian God, but using the fact that no one knows what is before the beginning of time to justify your own personal religious crusades is morally and logically incoherent.

    6 votes
  12. Comment on What's something that took you a long time to like? in ~talk

    screenbeard
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    100%. Just a little consistency between sub commands that do the same thing across similar main commands would be a start.

    100%. Just a little consistency between sub commands that do the same thing across similar main commands would be a start.

    3 votes
  13. Comment on What's something that took you a long time to like? in ~talk

    screenbeard
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    Git. I came from a much simpler version control system. Git still bugs me that it has inconsistent commands and flags, but I can't deny how powerful it is and how good it is at what it does well.

    Git. I came from a much simpler version control system. Git still bugs me that it has inconsistent commands and flags, but I can't deny how powerful it is and how good it is at what it does well.

    10 votes
  14. Comment on Beyond Calibri: Finding Microsoft’s next default font in ~design

    screenbeard
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    The last era of fonts that included Calibri had an updated serif font called Cambria. Was that any good to a serif enthusiast?

    The last era of fonts that included Calibri had an updated serif font called Cambria. Was that any good to a serif enthusiast?

    2 votes
  15. Comment on Cambodia condemns Vice for edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims smiling in ~humanities.history

    screenbeard
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    I didn't mean he was using specialised AI, but some sort of off-the-shelf old timey photo retoucher. Not that I'm aware of any such program existing.

    I didn't mean he was using specialised AI, but some sort of off-the-shelf old timey photo retoucher. Not that I'm aware of any such program existing.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Cambodia condemns Vice for edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims smiling in ~humanities.history

    screenbeard
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    An alternative story is that he did this work for families, some of whom wanted the pictures altered to have their family member smiling...

    An alternative story is that he did this work for families, some of whom wanted the pictures altered to have their family member smiling https://twitter.com/AlMcCready1/status/1381466042736672770?s=20

    I'll shut up speculating and wait for real information to come out.

    3 votes
  17. Comment on Cambodia condemns Vice for edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims smiling in ~humanities.history

    screenbeard
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    I wonder if he's using AI and would rather pretend it didn't happen and weather the outrage than admit he can't actually do the work he claims he can as an artist.

    I wonder if he's using AI and would rather pretend it didn't happen and weather the outrage than admit he can't actually do the work he claims he can as an artist.

    5 votes
  18. Comment on Arkansas Governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth in ~lgbt

  19. Comment on Arkansas Governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth in ~lgbt

    screenbeard
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    It's refreshing to see a Republican speaking out against the traditional talking points. This was always the correct answer, this is tough stuff for parents and kids to work through and...

    It's refreshing to see a Republican speaking out against the traditional talking points.

    He told reporters that it would set "new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people."

    This was always the correct answer, this is tough stuff for parents and kids to work through and legislating against people living it is some Dick Dastardly shit. And come off it with the name of the bill. I mean you could give them the benifit of the doubt that they're trying to protect children but calling it "experimentation" just highlights how little they respect the kids, parents, and doctors involved.

    15 votes
  20. Comment on Hear me out: Why Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker isn't a bad movie in ~movies

    screenbeard
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    Maybe Disney can milk the franchise further and give both directors a chance to re-do the other's film. So Rian can redo the Rise of Skywalker and JJ can redo The Last Jedi and we can subscribe to...

    Maybe Disney can milk the franchise further and give both directors a chance to re-do the other's film. So Rian can redo the Rise of Skywalker and JJ can redo The Last Jedi and we can subscribe to Disney+ to vote on who made the best trilogy.

    I'm not making this better am I?

    2 votes