sparksbet's recent activity
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Comment on Israeli military's ex-top lawyer arrested as scandal over video leak deepens in ~society
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Comment on Body time and daylight savings apologetics in ~life
sparksbet Link ParentUTC is already an accepted standard and can be used for the international scheduling purposes you describe currently without abolishing local time zones. There is absolutely zero advantage (and a...UTC is already an accepted standard and can be used for the international scheduling purposes you describe currently without abolishing local time zones. There is absolutely zero advantage (and a bevy of disadvantages) to abolishing local time zones and forcing people to talk about time using UTC exclusively even in non-international contexts, even if it were possible to force people to do so practically (it's not).
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Comment on Body time and daylight savings apologetics in ~life
sparksbet Link ParentThis won't work and is a bad idea. To quote the "in summary" portion as a tl;dr:Just abolish timezones alltogether and stick to UTC.
This won't work and is a bad idea.
To quote the "in summary" portion as a tl;dr:
Abolishing time zones brings many benefits, I hope. It also:
- causes the question "What time is it there?" to be useless/unanswerable
- necessitates significant changes to the way in which normal people talk about time
- convolutes timetables, where present
- means "days" are no longer the same as "days"
- complicates both secular and religious law
- is a staggering inconvenience for a minimum of five billion people
- makes it near-impossible to reason about time in other parts of the world
- does not mean everybody gets up at the same time, goes to work at the same time, or goes to bed at the same time
- is not simpler.
As long as humans live in more than one part of the world, solar time is always going to be subjective. Abolishing time zones only exacerbates this problem.
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Comment on Tips for becoming a tea person in ~food
sparksbet (edited )Link ParentWhile you can definitely get as fancy as OP seems to be with their coffee (and more so) with tea, do not underestimate how deep the rabbit hole can go for coffee fanciness. I'm at about the same...you can get just as (if not more)
While you can definitely get as fancy as OP seems to be with their coffee (and more so) with tea, do not underestimate how deep the rabbit hole can go for coffee fanciness. I'm at about the same coffee fanciness as OP and while I'm "the coffee person" among my friends, I'm an absolute baby normie compared to real coffee hobbyists. There's some truly unhinged depths you can go to with it.
Honestly, as a coffee person who occasionally drinks tea, I've actually tended to prefer fruity blends that may or may not contain actual tea. I think part of this is because it's taste-wise much farther away from coffee, actually. But I also think part of it is because I have a sweet tooth and it takes a lot less sugar to make a fruit tisane sweet lol. I've enjoyed my fair share of teas and only ever buy looseleaf, but that's about the limits of my tea fanciness lol.
Fun fact: unlike tea, there are actually multiple different species of coffee! Though the vast majority that people drink is one of two species, with different cultivars existing for the truly obsessed to dig into.
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Comment on Signs of introspection in large language models in ~tech
sparksbet Link ParentYeah, I understand why they do it from the perspective of their own material interests. I just dislike it.Yeah, I understand why they do it from the perspective of their own material interests. I just dislike it.
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Comment on Signs of introspection in large language models in ~tech
sparksbet Link ParentI desperately want to at least triple the number of scarequotes used in this article. The constant needless anthropomorphization only contributes to common misconceptions about these models (but...I desperately want to at least triple the number of scarequotes used in this article. The constant needless anthropomorphization only contributes to common misconceptions about these models (but they're misconceptions that benefit companies like Anthropic, so probably that's a plus for them).
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Comment on What are your favorite low cost main dishes/meals? in ~food
sparksbet Link ParentUnlike many other nearby countries, Japanese cuisine is not remotely spicy, and their curry is not an exception. Even the spiciest variant of that curry roux is barely hot by American standards....Unlike many other nearby countries, Japanese cuisine is not remotely spicy, and their curry is not an exception. Even the spiciest variant of that curry roux is barely hot by American standards. The medium one isn't really hot at all.
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Comment on Charlie Kirk's murder reveals a cultural sickness (Just Asking Questions podcast episode) in ~society
sparksbet Link ParentThis is true of most conservative Christians who share Kirk's views, as I can attest from having grown up in that environment myself as well (though luckily not as isolated as I would've been in a...I bet if you could ask Charlie Kirk, his response would be something like "I don't hate you, I hate your sins and want you to wash them away with the blood of Jesus" or something.
This is true of most conservative Christians who share Kirk's views, as I can attest from having grown up in that environment myself as well (though luckily not as isolated as I would've been in a rural community). But I think you're underestimating how inflammatory Kirk was more generally. I wouldn't necessarily bet against you on this, but I don't think it's as safe a bet as you think it is.
(Also shoutout to my mom for accidentally being woke in advance by not letting me read Harry Potter as a kid lol)
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Comment on People with a very good memory: does that make it harder to forgive? in ~talk
sparksbet Linkidk I have ADHD and have a similarly bad memory as you, but I still have a fair few grudges lolidk I have ADHD and have a similarly bad memory as you, but I still have a fair few grudges lol
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentMight or might not participate in November but put me on the list regardlessMight or might not participate in November but put me on the list regardless
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Comment on Travel essentials: eight items to pack for your next trip – and what to leave at home in ~travel
sparksbet LinkBy far the biggest upgrade to my travel has been my steam deck, ngl. It's not exactly small, but the amount of space it takes up in my carry on is more than made up for by how much of the boredom...By far the biggest upgrade to my travel has been my steam deck, ngl. It's not exactly small, but the amount of space it takes up in my carry on is more than made up for by how much of the boredom of flight time it alleviates compared to most other options.
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Comment on Travel essentials: eight items to pack for your next trip – and what to leave at home in ~travel
sparksbet Link ParentI think the utility of a pillow for the plane (neck or otherwise -- the principle advantage of a neck pillow, for me, is that I can walk around the airport with it on my neck rather than taking up...I think the utility of a pillow for the plane (neck or otherwise -- the principle advantage of a neck pillow, for me, is that I can walk around the airport with it on my neck rather than taking up actual carry-on space) depends a LOT on how long your flight is and which class you're seated in. For shorter flights it's indeed not worth it, but on longer ones when you're in economy the utility goes way up.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
sparksbet Link ParentSoy beans definitely are items you wouldn't typically find in grocery stores where I live, though. Even if we include specialty stores like the local Asian supermarket that stocks many things that...But all you need for Tofu is soy beans, water and gypsum/vinegar/limejuice
Soy beans definitely are items you wouldn't typically find in grocery stores where I live, though. Even if we include specialty stores like the local Asian supermarket that stocks many things that aren't typical grocery store fare, the fresh chilis that are needed to make the pickled chili paste I use simply aren't sold here at all, but you could get them incredibly easily in China. What counts as stuff you can typically buy at the grocery store is a problem with a definition of "ultra-processed" that relies on that as a criterion, because I don't think it's all that rigorous.
But yeah I think we're ultimately on more or less the same page when it comes to the practical implications here.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
sparksbet Link ParentIt's also more or less impossible to cut out ultra-processed foods without limiting yourself in terms of cuisines. More or less any meat substitute is ultra-processed, and good luck cooking...It's also more or less impossible to cut out ultra-processed foods without limiting yourself in terms of cuisines. More or less any meat substitute is ultra-processed, and good luck cooking Chinese food. Like, I can't make my own tofu or soy sauce or zhacai, nor can I buy their constituent ingredients in a grocery store where I live. Yet the resulting meals can still easily be a lot healthier for me than something else I made without any ultra-processed foods. Imo the label "ultra-processed" ends up being pretty orthogonal to actual health and the way some people focus on it to the exclusion of other more important factors is pretty messed up.
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Comment on Struggling in my relationship in ~life
sparksbet LinkIf you're fantasizing about ending things, that's a pretty big sign things should end imo. At bare minimum, you need professional relationship counseling. And I think you owe it to your partner to...If you're fantasizing about ending things, that's a pretty big sign things should end imo. At bare minimum, you need professional relationship counseling. And I think you owe it to your partner to communicate to them clearly that you're so close to the end of your rope. One of the biggest pain points from my own divorce was that my partner completely blindsided me with it and never brought up the obvious-in-retrospect problems with our relationship until she asked for a divorce.
I don't ultimately think the fact that you aren't legally married is gonna matter that much fwiw -- and I say this as someone currently going through the process of divorce myself. The fact that you apparently have kids together is going to make a "clean break" much harder than the legal institution of marriage would. I hope you don't own any shared property -- when they're present, kids and home ownership are the two hardest things to handle when breaking up a serious relationship like this, and lacking a legal marriage is not gonna make that easier.
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Comment on Suggestions for a new Steam Deck user looking to make Desktop mode pleasant to use? in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentI'm not really sure how much better you could make desktop mode using the steam deck's native controls than it already is, tbqh. Like, it is simply not possible to make a nice way to type using...I'm not really sure how much better you could make desktop mode using the steam deck's native controls than it already is, tbqh. Like, it is simply not possible to make a nice way to type using the steam deck's controls -- either you use the on-screen keyboard or you attach an external keyboard. What other possibilities do they foresee there being there? I'm not aware of any other videogame console with keyboard input that's better. The closest I can think of is the DS, which also just used a touchscreen keyboard (maybe the steam deck needs a stylus?) And since 90% of the annoyance using desktop mode is keyboard input, I'm not sure what OP expects a solution to be besides "attach an external keyboard on the rare occasions when you need desktop mode."
Steam already has an ergonomic couch mode set up for the steam deck. It's called not using desktop mode. Desktop mode is for the rare occasions when you need to do something a bit more technical, like downloading mods or adding a non-Steam game to steam so that it can be used in the mode that Valve designed to be comfortable to use for everyday gaming on the Steam deck.
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Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
sparksbet Link ParentTrue, but that response still relies on the underlying logic that if the British Museum were the safest and most secure place for storing these artifacts, it would be ethically justified for them...True, but that response still relies on the underlying logic that if the British Museum were the safest and most secure place for storing these artifacts, it would be ethically justified for them to keep them. I don't think that's the case.
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Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
sparksbet Link ParentI don't think it's really fair to bring up museums taking artifacts unethically from around the world as a point in your favor when the point of view you're arguing for -- an insistence on the...I don't think it's really fair to bring up museums taking artifacts unethically from around the world as a point in your favor when the point of view you're arguing for -- an insistence on the need to "properly preserve" relevant artifacts and the idea that preventing such work from being displayed or held in anything less than the safest conditions -- is one of the most common arguments made in favor of taking, keeping, and refusing demands to return those unethical acquisitions.
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Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
sparksbet Link ParentI feel like something with levels designed similarly to those in Hitman games but with some way to make the gameplay more about planning than improvising would be really interesting... expensive...I feel like something with levels designed similarly to those in Hitman games but with some way to make the gameplay more about planning than improvising would be really interesting... expensive and difficult to design, perhaps, but interesting.
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Comment on The same-name club made up entirely of Shirleys is dying out in ~life
sparksbet Link Parentlol yeah the major exceptions to this cycle are usually very popular religious nameslol yeah the major exceptions to this cycle are usually very popular religious names
now?