spctrvl's recent activity
-
Comment on Maine Senate endorses bill to elect president by popular vote in ~news
-
Comment on Which anime would you guys recommend for someone who just started watching anime? in ~anime
-
Comment on Which anime would you guys recommend for someone who just started watching anime? in ~anime
spctrvl (edited ) Link Depends on what you're in to. General recommendations for anyone would be Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Steins;Gate, bonus points for them all having phenomenal English dubs....Depends on what you're in to. General recommendations for anyone would be Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Steins;Gate, bonus points for them all having phenomenal English dubs. And though I'm personally not a fan, a lot of people also seem to like My Hero Academia, so it might also be worth a shot, at least if you're in to superhero stuff.
Little Witch Academia is also really good, it's like an anime tribute to Harry Potter and western cartoons, done in the best possible way.
2 votes -
Comment on This Week in Election Night, 2020 (Week 8) in ~news
spctrvl Link Parent I'm sure he could, but the issue is that Biden's campaign is presenting him as a return to normalcy, as if Trump is just some once in a lifetime aberration and not the symptom of deep societal...I'm sure he could, but the issue is that Biden's campaign is presenting him as a return to normalcy, as if Trump is just some once in a lifetime aberration and not the symptom of deep societal ills resulting from decades of poor policy. While he wouldn't necessarily be a bad president, he's not really set on addressing the issues that gave us Trump in the first place, and eight years down the road we could be seeing a Trump v2 (or Dubya v3 or Reagan v4 if you prefer).
3 votes -
Comment on Why Tildes is the only place I can actually enjoy discussing politics and other controversial topics now in ~tildes
spctrvl Link Parent Really? Maybe there's not any vocal right wing extremists on here, but I think the hard left is pretty well represented. There aren't really any tankies or other authoritarians I guess, but their...Everyone just generally agrees. There is no leftist on here, no paleocon, no anarcho-capitalist, no marxist, no rationalist, etc. It's all just the same.
Really? Maybe there's not any vocal right wing extremists on here, but I think the hard left is pretty well represented. There aren't really any tankies or other authoritarians I guess, but their absence is not really a loss to mourn.
4 votes -
Comment on What’s your favorite soup? in ~food
spctrvl Link Parent The chili ramen packets go kind of okay with green lentils, but I don't make them nearly as much as I make ramen, so the packets really start to pile up.The chili ramen packets go kind of okay with green lentils, but I don't make them nearly as much as I make ramen, so the packets really start to pile up.
2 votes -
Comment on What’s your favorite soup? in ~food
-
Comment on Recommend me a game that _________. in ~games
spctrvl Link Parent I'll recommend you Rimworld as well. It's a settlement building game in the vein of dwarf fortress, but with a hard science fiction setting instead, and simplified enough that you should know the...I'll recommend you Rimworld as well. It's a settlement building game in the vein of dwarf fortress, but with a hard science fiction setting instead, and simplified enough that you should know the game inside and out within a few hours, without being so simple it quickly gets boring.
The Tropico franchise and Cities Skylines might also fit the bill, but they're a little oversimplified IMO and don't have that much staying power.
3 votes -
Comment on Recommend me a game that _________. in ~games
spctrvl Link Parent Rimworld should do the trick wonderfully. Imagine a hard sci-fi dwarf fortress, but with nicer visuals, and streamlined to the point where mere mortals can play, without being oversimplified.Rimworld should do the trick wonderfully. Imagine a hard sci-fi dwarf fortress, but with nicer visuals, and streamlined to the point where mere mortals can play, without being oversimplified.
3 votes -
Comment on What OS do you use and what are your favourite programs? in ~comp
spctrvl Link I use Arch Linux. As far as favorite programs go, big question. VLC is gonna have to top the list, by far the best media player I've ever used. xfce is my favorite desktop environment, but that's...I use Arch Linux. As far as favorite programs go, big question. VLC is gonna have to top the list, by far the best media player I've ever used. xfce is my favorite desktop environment, but that's down to personal preference of course. Valve's proton software is pretty awesome for making linux a viable gaming OS, I haven't needed to boot into Windows in months.
But those are all pretty common. Something I don't see brought up that often is KDE Connect. Brilliant little piece of software for pairing your phone and your PC over LAN that allows for all kinds of stuff, like SMS and call notifications to the desktop, accessing your phone's filesystem from the desktop, and my personal favorite, the remote features. You can use your phone to control your PC in tons of ways, from using it as a mouse and keyboard, to executing console commands, to multimedia controls for music and video players.
15 votes -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl Link Parent Keep in mind though that behind every solar or wind farm is a natural gas turbine waiting to fire up, and making enough batteries to make those obsolete is going to be an expensive, time...Keep in mind though that behind every solar or wind farm is a natural gas turbine waiting to fire up, and making enough batteries to make those obsolete is going to be an expensive, time consuming, and carbon intensive process compared to just building nuclear reactors. IMO the best alternative we have to nuclear power, and the one we should ultimately be using in the long run, is space based solar. You get around basically all of the issues of ground based solar, you don't deplete non-renewable (if abundant) fission fuel, and it's actually starting to dip into the realm of economic viability with the latest generation of rockets.
1 vote -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl Link Parent I think you've missed my point. Chernobyl is the only nuclear power plant failure to even break single digits in death toll, even if you take that as a "plausible outcome" (which you absolutely...I think you've missed my point. Chernobyl is the only nuclear power plant failure to even break single digits in death toll, even if you take that as a "plausible outcome" (which you absolutely should not), and we had a Chernobyl every decade, nuclear would still be the safest mode of power production, and it wouldn't be close.
I will say, at least aviation crashes can be cleared up and don't leave entire areas evacuated & irradiated, necessitating billions of dollars of environmental cleanup over decades.
At least nuclear meltdowns don't destroy entire planetary biospheres, necessitating trillions of dollars of environmental cleanup over centuries. Hell, fossil fuel plants don't even need to fail to do that, that's just how they work.
1 vote -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl (edited ) Link Parent There could be, but the point I'm trying to make is that even the absolute worst case nuclear disaster that was Chernobyl only had 43 confirmed casualties, and with modern reactor designs and...There could be, but the point I'm trying to make is that even the absolute worst case nuclear disaster that was Chernobyl only had 43 confirmed casualties, and with modern reactor designs and safety protocols, that's not exactly a plausible outcome. Nuclear power is far and away the safest energy source we currently have access to, even natural gas kills thousands annually, and that's what's replacing coal for the most part. And again, all that isn't taking into account however many millions of deaths there are going to be from climate change as a direct result of continued use of fossil fuels.
2 votes -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl Link Parent Does it though? Wikipedia has nuclear as by far the safest means of power production, even beating out wind and solar, and a once in a generation nuclear "disaster" kills at worst about as many...I merely stating nuclear punches well above it's weight class in terms of plausible outcomes when it comes to failure modes.
Does it though? Wikipedia has nuclear as by far the safest means of power production, even beating out wind and solar, and a once in a generation nuclear "disaster" kills at worst about as many people as coal does in every hour of every day. Without taking climate change into account.
2 votes -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl Link Parent Not to mention coal power kills dozens of Chernobyls worth of people a year while working as intended, but it gets a pass because we've just accepted that human sacrifice as the cost of doing...Not to mention coal power kills dozens of Chernobyls worth of people a year while working as intended, but it gets a pass because we've just accepted that human sacrifice as the cost of doing business. That's without factoring in future deaths from climate change and using some pretty egregious numbers for Chernobyl, of several thousand casualties. While there's ambiguity because it's difficult to trace cancer deaths back to a specific source, wikipedia has the number of verified casualties of the Chernobyl accident at just 43.
18 votes -
Comment on What's a common misconception or misunderstanding you would love to see corrected? in ~talk
spctrvl Link Marginal tax brackets! So many people think that if you cross the income threshold into a higher tax bracket, you get all of your income taxed at the higher rate, rather than just the income over...Marginal tax brackets! So many people think that if you cross the income threshold into a higher tax bracket, you get all of your income taxed at the higher rate, rather than just the income over the threshold, which is how it actually works. This misconception is crazy common and drives poor decisions on the microeconomic front, and probably amplifies damaging anti tax sentiment in the political arena.
43 votes -
Comment on "Pollution tax" should go two ways in ~enviro
spctrvl Link Parent Assuming the buses are running close to capacity, around six. Personally though, I think you'd see a lot more cars being taken off the streets than bikes if there was free public transit, which...Assuming the buses are running close to capacity, around six. Personally though, I think you'd see a lot more cars being taken off the streets than bikes if there was free public transit, which would actually make bikes safer to ride and presumably expand their use. Not to mention their utility to transit riders for getting that last mile.
-
Comment on Recommend me a book that _________. in ~books
spctrvl Link Parent Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. It's a fun, self aware cyberpunk satire released in 1992, with a near future setting that is amazingly prescient with regard to issues currently afflicting society,...Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. It's a fun, self aware cyberpunk satire released in 1992, with a near future setting that is amazingly prescient with regard to issues currently afflicting society, particularly memetic viruses, social atomization and post-rational sects.
8 votes -
Comment on Epic buys Rocket League developer Psyonix, strongly hints it will stop selling the game on Steam in ~games
spctrvl Link Parent There's not a reason to rely solely on steam, but there's already competing platforms that don't act in blatantly anti-consumer ways, like GOG and Humble. Though I'm not sure what the options are...There's not a reason to rely solely on steam, but there's already competing platforms that don't act in blatantly anti-consumer ways, like GOG and Humble. Though I'm not sure what the options are for studios that want DRM attached to their titles.
7 votes -
Comment on Beyond Meat is going public. Investors are betting on a new future for food. in ~food
spctrvl Link Parent They are, kinda blows my mind that no big fast food chain's put them on the menu yet. You could probably have a $0.50 burger with solid margins. Wouldn't fool most people, but bean burgers taste...They are, kinda blows my mind that no big fast food chain's put them on the menu yet. You could probably have a $0.50 burger with solid margins. Wouldn't fool most people, but bean burgers taste good enough in a different way to be a dish of their own.
1 vote
The next time a Democrat loses the popular vote but wins the electoral college will be the first. And I don't think this is necessarily a partisan thing anyway. I detest the GOP, but I, and I'm sure most other supporters of the compact, think that if a republican gets a majority of the votes, they should be president.