sparkle's recent activity
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Comment on I think Anthropic and OpenAI have found product-market fit in ~tech
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Comment on Hot or Not : Temperature guessing game in ~creative
sparkle Link ParentThat's a fair perspective I hadn't considered before, thank you!That's a fair perspective I hadn't considered before, thank you!
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Comment on Hot or Not : Temperature guessing game in ~creative
sparkle Link ParentNot intending this to be a hrr-drr 'Murican's freedom units comment, but does it matter in this case? The goal of the game is comparison and Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin, or Rankine scales are all...Can you add a Fahrenheit option?
Not intending this to be a hrr-drr 'Murican's freedom units comment, but does it matter in this case? The goal of the game is comparison and Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin, or Rankine scales are all the same where higher numbers = hotter.
Though I suppose there could be an argument for there not being decimals in the Celsius readings, leading to "skipped" Fahrenheit degrees, e.g., 20C is 68F while 21C is 70F. But if the source information is coming in Celsius anyway and decimals aren't present to begin with, not sure that matters much anyway.
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Comment on 'The Boys' has ended. What are your thoughts? in ~tv
sparkle Link ParentThis was my sentiment as well. I think the last episode I watched was the one at the... pseudo-conservative convention? I felt rather ill at ease after that episode, not because of the violence or...I also think satire generally does the opposite of what it's setting out to do, by giving it attention that isn't outright negative (since it's at best making light of the situation by turning it humorous, and at worst giving something for supporters to be turned on by)
This was my sentiment as well. I think the last episode I watched was the one at the... pseudo-conservative convention? I felt rather ill at ease after that episode, not because of the violence or anything but just the treatment of the situations. It came across as more "haha we're laughing at you" which just makes the left double down on "they're all idiots" and the right double down on "they hate us because we're right" and who does that benefit more really?
There were lots of other issues too but the writers nearly agreeing with the far right by legitimizing their thoughts with humour just made me feel really uncomfortable.
I didn't really watch it beyond that - I just lost complete interest in the show and no desire to finish it either.
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Comment on What's your favorite personal gaming memory? in ~games
sparkle LinkThere's dozens of "wow!" moments for me, but one of my all time favourite memories was about 25 or so years ago huddled around a 21" CRT in my best friend's living room playing Goldeneye 007 with...There's dozens of "wow!" moments for me, but one of my all time favourite memories was about 25 or so years ago huddled around a 21" CRT in my best friend's living room playing Goldeneye 007 with his two brothers.
We were playing rockets only (honour system) with max health on Facility, ensuring you basically had to get a direct hit to kill each other. I forget the win condition - but it was tense in these moments. There was lots of yelling and shrieking, frantic jumping, cursing when parents weren't within earshot, all around hilarity for early adolescence boys. Since we all suspected each other of screen cheating, we aimed our cameras up at the ceiling or down at the floor and navigated mostly blindly. Suddenly all four of us turned a corner at the same time (well three technically, one was just down the hall) and all screamed as we launched multiple rockets into each other's faces and/or feet. The orange pixelated glow of explosions filled each player square on the CRT and... stayed there with a horrid crunching coming out of the tinny TV speakers.
That was the day we learned the N64 can crash. After we calmed down from that intense screamfest, we went outside and threw rocks at trees or something. Core memory right there.
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Comment on ‘Monster Wolf’ robots deployed in Japan amid spike in bear attacks in ~enviro
sparkle Link ParentThe article actually states there were 13 confirmed fatalities in 2025, with one confirmed fatality and two other potentially bear-linked fatalities so far this year. But that did get me wondering...Also, 13 fatal attacks in 2026!? The US only had three confirmed fatalities last year, and apparently we have ~330,000+ bears versus ~54,000+ in Japan. Just... wow.
The article actually states there were 13 confirmed fatalities in 2025, with one confirmed fatality and two other potentially bear-linked fatalities so far this year. But that did get me wondering what the average bear/person/area ratio is though. Wouldn't that be a more comparable number? More bears in a smaller area + they're appearing in unexpected areas in search of food so an increase in human/bear interactions which results in an increase in fatal bear attacks.
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Comment on MP3 player recommendations in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentOh yes, I meant more that you can't have like a podcast library and a music library both showing in Plexamp at the same time - you always have to go in and switch the library source. I can't...Oh yes, I meant more that you can't have like a podcast library and a music library both showing in Plexamp at the same time - you always have to go in and switch the library source. I can't recall if the downloads are linked to the library though? Seems silly to do it that way.
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Comment on MP3 player recommendations in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentBeen a few years since I set it up on mine, but you basically just create a library, set the library type to music and then install plexamp and it should auto-detect any music libraries. If you...Been a few years since I set it up on mine, but you basically just create a library, set the library type to music and then install plexamp and it should auto-detect any music libraries. If you want multiple libraries (like music, podcasts, audiobooks), you can organize it that way but I believe only one library at a time can be used with Plexamp.
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Comment on Smartphone recommendations? in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentCorrect me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asus discontinue the affordable Zenfone a few years ago and go all in on flagship models? My wife really enjoyed her Zenfone 3 and wanted to replace it with a...In any case, try the Asus Zenphone
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asus discontinue the affordable Zenfone a few years ago and go all in on flagship models? My wife really enjoyed her Zenfone 3 and wanted to replace it with a newer model a few years ago, but the Ultra was the only model available and it was like 1500 CAD. Used ones/new old stock weren't really available either
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Comment on Valve has released CAD files for the Steam Controller in ~games
sparkle (edited )Link ParentYou'd rather they host on GitHub and have the controller reverted to v1? (I'm extremely oversimplifying and misconstruing the whole snafu from two weeks ago for the sake of the joke)You'd rather they host on GitHub and have the controller reverted to v1? (I'm extremely oversimplifying and misconstruing the whole snafu from two weeks ago for the sake of the joke)
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Comment on Space Hauler | Announcement trailer in ~games
sparkle Link ParentI so wish Hardspace had an official VR mode! I would legitimately consider buying VR just for that game alone, being that immersed in space and being able to use your hands to manipulate the tools...I so wish Hardspace had an official VR mode! I would legitimately consider buying VR just for that game alone, being that immersed in space and being able to use your hands to manipulate the tools and float through space would be fantastic.
I know there's VR mods for it but that sounds like a lot of work for something I know little about :/
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Comment on What was the best job you ever had? in ~life
sparkle (edited )LinkResearch librarian's assistant! I held this job at my university for two years and it was an absolute blast. I primarily helped the head research librarian, but I got to learn a lot along the way...Research librarian's assistant! I held this job at my university for two years and it was an absolute blast. I primarily helped the head research librarian, but I got to learn a lot along the way and he even let me help some of the other students with their research projects, allowing me to develop a really deep understanding of library material organization and just absorbing a lot of knowledge about a lot of topics to enable me to make good suggestions for books.
There was also ordering papers and books via interlibrary loan, but that was kind of a streamlined process so not much fun to be had there.
I also had access to our archives! It was a small school so it was like, mostly historical documents, past student theses, photographs, etc., but still really cool.
Still not really sure how I wound up in dev ops/cloud engineering but here we are. I honestly didn't think research librarians were still much of a thing but one of my friends is getting her degree in it, so must still be in demand. It's great being able to chat and (healthily) live vicariously through her. Who knows - maybe one day after the great communication collapse of 2067 I'll go back to working in a library.
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Comment on Do you prefer chunky or smooth peanut butter? in ~food
sparkle (edited )LinkI don't really like peanut butter all that much. However! I do love peanuts. Roasted, fried, boiled, salted, unsalted, shelled, unshelled, don't matter. The one time I do like peanut butter is on...I don't really like peanut butter all that much. However! I do love peanuts. Roasted, fried, boiled, salted, unsalted, shelled, unshelled, don't matter. The one time I do like peanut butter is on toast with garlic dill pickle slices, in that case I usually prefer chunky but I'll take whatever's on hand, so long as there's no high fructose corn syrup in it.
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Comment on Original Apollo 11 code open-sourced by NASA in ~space
sparkle (edited )LinkEdit: Tom's Hardware writers are either in an alternate timeline, had a story get stuck in the queue and just now automatically released, or something weirder because this was apparently already...Edit: Tom's Hardware writers are either in an alternate timeline, had a story get stuck in the queue and just now automatically released, or something weirder because this was apparently already done by the same intern in 2016?. I guess at no point do they actually claim this was newly released, the title is just bad.
Original comment: Hasn't the code been available for awhile? Perhaps they just mean that it has been uploaded to GitHub from an official source.
I'm fairly certain the original source code is what they are using in the Apollo Guidance Computer restoration video by CuriousMarc with Mike Stewart doing most of the AGC code work.
This one in particular has them using the Apollo 11 AGC original code to "fly" the LM.
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Comment on Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, an epic adventure, will release in IMAX and wide globally in theaters on February 12, 2027, and on Netflix on April 2, 2027 in ~movies
sparkle Link ParentYes. It was a very confusing childhood. Very much a "judge the book by its cover (or title)". The real icing on the cake - The Lord of the Rings was completely acceptable (no mention of magic in...So is The Magician's Nephew solely excluded because it has the word magic in the title regardless of the content?
Yes. It was a very confusing childhood. Very much a "judge the book by its cover (or title)". The real icing on the cake - The Lord of the Rings was completely acceptable (no mention of magic in the title - in fact Return of the King probably evoked images of the Rapture). I should also mention she is incapable of imagination, she quite literally cannot read fiction and be immersed in the world, so she never actually read any of the books that were subject to a ban (or not).
She's since admitted that she didn't know how to parent and she was just basing a lot of her belief system on what other moms in the church were saying/doing. And there were some real crunchy Utah moms in that bunch. My mom just didn't want to do the legwork of figuring out the why behind the various bans/boycotts they instituted. Disney, Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Power Rangers, Harry Potter, any TV channel but PBS, etc. were all subject to a crunchy mom ban at some point and my mom was more than happy to join in to show how dedicated she was to the cause.
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Comment on Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, an epic adventure, will release in IMAX and wide globally in theaters on February 12, 2027, and on Netflix on April 2, 2027 in ~movies
sparkle Link ParentI also grew up religious but my mom was extremely anti-magic. The mere mention of the word was enough to send her into a frenzy. The Magician's Nephew was especially touchy because it was...I also grew up religious but my mom was extremely anti-magic. The mere mention of the word was enough to send her into a frenzy. The Magician's Nephew was especially touchy because it was Christian literature by a well renowned and respected Christian author so this understandably created quite the cognitive dissonance. For years it sat there in the box set with the other six books, each of which was dog-eared and worn from having been read so many times. And then there was The Magician's Nephew, nearly pristine, almost imagined out of existence lest we upset my mother by mentioning it or reading it.
Of course, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, so one day when I felt bold enough I started to read it. Mom had stopped caring as much after we switched churches to somewhere less dogmatic and I seized the opportunity. I definitely liked it more than The Horse and His Boy, though my young mind wasn't as receptive of the prose and symbology of either at the time. And I read it too late in life - I wasn't nearly as interested and I was already on my way out from the church.
Anyway my favourite has always been The Silver Chair just because I really like spelunking and the Underland was really cool to me. It was also nice to see Eustace again after the conclusion of Dawn Treader.
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Comment on Apple set to become third-biggest laptop maker this year in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentMy 2006 MacBook was free because it was stolen from the original owner, ditched in a bush and left outside for three days in the rain, recovered, and the original owner said I could have it if I...My
20082006 MacBook was free because it was stolen from the original owner, ditched in a bush and left outside for three days in the rain, recovered, and the original owner said I could have it if I could fix it since he had already gotten a new one.I let it dry thoroughly, cleaned up any debris inside, slapped a new battery and HDD in and used it for a good year. Those polycarbonates were fantastic, I still have a
20112008 model in the basement although the screen is shot. Speaking of which, I did replace the screen on one of them at one point - also a very easy repair.Edit: got my dates a little mixed up. I got the free 2006 model in 2008, then got a 2008 model in 2009.
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Comment on "Why was I invited to Beast Studios?" - A comprehensive investigative analysis of YouTube's biggest channel in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentMr Beast branded anything hearkens forth images of Krusty branded products. -Bort SampsonMr Beast branded anything hearkens forth images of Krusty branded products.
I've been scorched by
KrustyMr Beast before. I got a rapid heartbeat from hisKrustyMr Beast Brand vitamins; myKrustyMr Beast Calculator didn't have a 7 or an 8; andKrusty'sMr Beast's autobiography was self-serving with many glaring omissions; but this time, he's gone too far!-Bort Sampson
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Comment on SUPER ZSNES - SNES Emulator in ~games
sparkle Link ParentOh ok that's awesome then! Wonder if they saw there was a lot more demand for Linux gaming since the original release and quickly spun up a pipeline for unity.Oh ok that's awesome then! Wonder if they saw there was a lot more demand for Linux gaming since the original release and quickly spun up a pipeline for unity.
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Comment on SUPER ZSNES - SNES Emulator in ~games
sparkle (edited )LinkModern Vintage Gamer did a video/interview? on Super ZSNES just recently. Shows off the features as well as discusses some of the the tech behind it and also the mod tools being developed. ZSNES...Modern Vintage Gamer did a video/interview? on Super ZSNES just recently. Shows off the features as well as discusses some of the the tech behind it and also the mod tools being developed.
ZSNES was a core part of my childhood, from the moment my friend showed it running under DOS and explained it did better than it did under Windows because... Windows. I pretty much made sure I installed it on every computer I had access to cuz it was small and I could play so many games with it. I'm pretty certain I had the emulator + like five essential games (Chrono Trigger, FF6, Super Mario World, Bahamut Lagoon, and MarioRPG, if I had to guess) in a compressed archive on a floppy disk somewhere that went everywhere with me.
Unity engine is still a weird choice to me - maybe because so much is done in GPU as opposed to the original that was mostly CPU? Also hoping they don't keep Arial as the default font (I think that's what Unity sets as a default?) and either let you pick other fonts or use the original pixel font cuz Arial is just ... There's a place for it and this ain't it.
I also don't know why MVG says it's only available on Windows, Mac, and Android when there's a Linux build available on the main page unless it wasn't available at the time of publication.
My company has already started imposing token limits and sending out memos to reduce usage. And because our private equity enshittifier overlords said we didn't make enough money for them last year, nobody got raises and at this rate I highly doubt we're getting raises next year either - which will probably mean the collapse of the company. I'm already looking for the way out, just a matter of time now...
We've probably had a 15% turnover from the no raises stance already. There's been no replacements - they went all in on "AI will make up the differences". Nobody is happy except the one guy who's been harping about how amazing AI has been.