stu2b50's recent activity
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Comment on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Nintendo Direct 6.9.2026 in ~games
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Comment on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Nintendo Direct 6.9.2026 in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentNever? We’ve been recycling stories and nostalgia baiting since the days of Homer. Do you think this materially affected the creative output of any particular generation? Inasmuch as you can be...Never? We’ve been recycling stories and nostalgia baiting since the days of Homer.
It gave us no room to breath as a generation, and I'm worried that we're doing the same thing with our own kids.
Do you think this materially affected the creative output of any particular generation? Inasmuch as you can be objective I don’t particularly see a dip in any artistic medium through the generations that wasn’t driven by technological changes.
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Comment on Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentWhy would they care? Increasing prices does not increase profit. They’ll price it based on the inflection point of marginal revenue, which would depend on both how useful the product is and the...They wouldn't offer a cheaper service because that would A) put a ton of people out of work
Why would they care?
B) they'd miss out on profit.
Increasing prices does not increase profit. They’ll price it based on the inflection point of marginal revenue, which would depend on both how useful the product is and the competition.
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Comment on "Teachers are going to hate it": How social media apps hooked teens at school in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentWhy? Section 230 is more broad than that. If I say “Donald Trump was in the Epstein files”, section 230 says that Trump cannot sue Tildes for merely hosting that. Trump can sue me for libel.Why? Section 230 is more broad than that. If I say “Donald Trump was in the Epstein files”, section 230 says that Trump cannot sue Tildes for merely hosting that. Trump can sue me for libel.
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Comment on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Nintendo Direct 6.9.2026 in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentIdk feels fine to me. The OoT remake was on the 3DS, and it mostly kept the same gameplay. Honestly OoT feels pretty dated these days, from the awkward camera movement to always starting the game...Idk feels fine to me. The OoT remake was on the 3DS, and it mostly kept the same gameplay. Honestly OoT feels pretty dated these days, from the awkward camera movement to always starting the game from Link’s house. Not surprising given it was one of the first 3D third person games. Things have changed a lot since it came out.
A remake has a lot to offer.
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Comment on GOG apologies for emailing Nazi runes to its followers in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentThe rise of Neo-nazism in Slavic countries is an interesting exploration in the evolution of white European identity over the years. Famously Hitler would not have considered Slavs to be anything...The rise of Neo-nazism in Slavic countries is an interesting exploration in the evolution of white European identity over the years. Famously Hitler would not have considered Slavs to be anything close to his Aryans, and he explicitly wanted to work the Slavs to death before taking their land as living space.
But increasing globalization as well as migration from the Middle East and Africa, as well as Europe generally taking a backseat in global politics after WW2, led to a growing pan-white European identity that has led slavic groups to re-identify themselves racially in such a way that they can adopt Neo-nazi ideology without seeing a contradiction
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Comment on To my students in ~comp
stu2b50 LinkIt’s a nice sentiment, but I feel like it collides in a way that is not practical with reality. In particular, if said students want to get a job in the industry and make money, while they can...It’s a nice sentiment, but I feel like it collides in a way that is not practical with reality. In particular, if said students want to get a job in the industry and make money, while they can choose not to use AI and to care deeply about their craft and go slowly, their employer can also choose not to hire them.
Which is their right. Kinda is what it is.
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Comment on Allie Rose Co and the ‘Hot Girls Read’ trademark drama, explained in ~books
stu2b50 (edited )Link ParentTrademarks are much more narrowly defined than copyright, although the two are often conflated. That's why you can have Apple, the iPhone company, own the Apple trademark, in addition to Apple...Trademarks are much more narrowly defined than copyright, although the two are often conflated. That's why you can have Apple, the iPhone company, own the Apple trademark, in addition to Apple Records, the Beatles company, own the Apple trademark.
Trademark is essentially exclusively concerned with the idea of making sure people know what they're buying. If you buy an iPhone, it must be from Apple. Someone else can't make something and sell it as an iPhone. It doesn't mean you own the word, or something, just that in a narrow slice of commercialized products, you have exclusive usage of the word for commercial purposes.
Trademarks have to be defended. If it's the case that what you trademarked isn't the first thing that comes to mind when the phrase or word comes up, trademarks can be lost. Although Apple is obviously a very common word, in the context of smartphones, no one in good faith can say they don't know what Apple is.
Ultimately, people usually make a bigger deal of trademark than it really is. For one, if you don't actually have a famous product, it's kind of pointless to begin with? Secondly, it's something that's very malleable in court - if, for a variety of reasons, the public no longer associates you with the trademarked phrase, whether that be because of genericazation (e.g, Velcro -> velcro) or simply because you fall off and lose mindshare, it can easily be removed.
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Comment on When AI builds itself — progress toward recursive self-improvement and its implications in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentThere's a lot of bias inherent in the framing as well. Someone posted a painting from Monet on Twitter with the text that, paraphrased, said that they generated it with nanobanana and wanted art...There's a lot of bias inherent in the framing as well. Someone posted a painting from Monet on Twitter with the text that, paraphrased, said that they generated it with nanobanana and wanted art experts to see how it compared with a real Monet painting.
Of course, it got shellacked. Even though it was actually a real, Monet painting.
That's the power of how things are presented. When it's "controversial company has their code leaked", it's inevitable.
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Comment on What are your predictions and wishes for the upcoming Nintendo Direct? in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentJust goes to show the breadth of human experience, I suppose. For some some more context, games I thought were better that I played in 2025 E33 silk song death stranding 2 Games I thought were...Just goes to show the breadth of human experience, I suppose.
For some some more context, games I thought were better that I played in 2025
- E33
- silk song
- death stranding 2
Games I thought were worse than ZA
- Ghosts of yotei
- Mario kart world
- donkey Kong Bananza
- MH: wilds
- Indiana Jones circle of whatever
- silent hill f
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Comment on What are your predictions and wishes for the upcoming Nintendo Direct? in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentYou sure you didn’t mix those up? Engage is generally thought to have the better Fire Emblem gameplay - the actual designs of maps, character kits, and so on. Three Houses had much of its budget...You sure you didn’t mix those up? Engage is generally thought to have the better Fire Emblem gameplay - the actual designs of maps, character kits, and so on. Three Houses had much of its budget spent on the overworld and dating sim elements.
On the other hand, engage barely had characters. Or a story for that matter.
Whereas the story and characters were the reason people played Three Houses.
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Comment on What are your predictions and wishes for the upcoming Nintendo Direct? in ~games
stu2b50 Link ParentNot OP but I thought ZA was excellent and one of the better games that came out last year. I found the revamped combat very enjoyable - the real time aspect actually changed things in ways that...Not OP but I thought ZA was excellent and one of the better games that came out last year. I found the revamped combat very enjoyable - the real time aspect actually changed things in ways that Pokemon never has.
For instance, there’s now value in having two attacking moves of the same type, other than PP. It’s attack frequency. If you’re against a grass type and have two fire moves, vs one fire and one ground, your DPS is effectively 2x. But it makes you less versatile. So there’s tradeoff.
Bulk is much better in general. Pokemon is infamously the game where speed is the most important stat because almost every Pokemon can 2 shot, if not one shot, everyone else. But not in ZA. Moves like giga drain or draining kiss are infinitely better.
Positioning also matters. Moves like extreme speed get an extra dimension by being good for positioning. Moves like dig or bounce too get a new life.
I thought the city was fun. A bit samey, but they surprisingly were able to fill it with a lot of hidden things, and of course Pokemon catchability.
The overall gameplay loop, especially catching, was just much smoother.
IMO one of the top 5 games that came out in ‘25.
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Comment on Have you tried Pewdiepies' self-hosted AI workspace, Odysseus? in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentHe retired from YouTube, moved to Japan with his wife and is currently raising his kid mostly off the radar. Occasionally he uploads videos about drawing. Shows up in Japan content creator stuff...He retired from YouTube, moved to Japan with his wife and is currently raising his kid mostly off the radar. Occasionally he uploads videos about drawing. Shows up in Japan content creator stuff every once in a while (eg, he appeared on the Cyclothon).
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Comment on What do you think of robots in the military? in ~tech
stu2b50 (edited )Link ParentIt's also just as bad if the leader goes "yeehaw" and decides to fight on the frontlines when Russia invades. Can you imagine how Ukraine would have fared if Zelensky got shot in the face by a...You think a country sharing a border with Russia wants their leader saying "nah i'm good" because they don't want to risk their own neck at the cost of everyone else?
It's also just as bad if the leader goes "yeehaw" and decides to fight on the frontlines when Russia invades. Can you imagine how Ukraine would have fared if Zelensky got shot in the face by a Russian sniper on day 1 of the war?
Probably a lot worse than letting him lead from safety!
This was actually a huge problem for the Ancient Greeks, especially Athenians. Their leaders DID have to charge in with their army, usually at the front, for morale reasons. Athens was special because it was a democracy, and every member of the Athenian army was a wealthy citizen who directly voted for their generals. A general who didn't lead by example would get deserted and/or booted quite quickly, in contrast to dictators and kings of other greek and non-greek states near them.
They did not tend to last very long, which means they consistently had a issue with inexperienced generals.
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Comment on What do you think of robots in the military? in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentOne is that in an age of ICBMs, the range to which you have to defend is much higher. You don't need boots on the ground to do damage. The Cuban missile crisis was an existential moment for the...One is that in an age of ICBMs, the range to which you have to defend is much higher. You don't need boots on the ground to do damage. The Cuban missile crisis was an existential moment for the US, but it did not involve US soil.
Second, is that it's to the great economic benefit of the US. Post WW2, the US created a grand series of allies that rely on the US for military protection. This includes some of the largest economies, and some of the most technologically advance, in the world - Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan are just some examples.
The US's position as their "protector" also means the US can shake them down, or in more diplomatic terms, "get good trade deals", the same way a mobster "protects" and "extracts". Just look at how badly Trump has mistreated Germany and Japan, and how both countries still submit to the economic punishment from the US. Trump's fucking it up, but for ages the US has benefited from very good, let's say, "economic relationships" with its allies.
Finally, the reality is that the US is not self sufficient for the population size it has currently. It was oil in the 80s, it's chips now, it's always going to be something.
It's obviously hard to measure, but I would wager the US has garnered far more in value than it has paid in military fees from 1945 to today.
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Comment on The rise of build-to-rent housing in ~finance
stu2b50 Link ParentDoes the landlord need to be part of the community? Presumably the people renting the house would be the ones who would be in the community. That’s what property taxes are for.They have no local connection and don’t give a shit about anyone else in the neighborhood.
Does the landlord need to be part of the community? Presumably the people renting the house would be the ones who would be in the community.
They’re just extracting profit without giving anything back.
That’s what property taxes are for.
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Comment on Tokyo land is still >$85 million an acre in ~finance
stu2b50 Link ParentIt seems to me that the combination of white flight and deindustrialized degradation of rust belt cities irreparably broke the image of dense, urban areas to many Americans. To NIMBYs, upzoning...They are not. Whatever they’re maximizing, it isn’t profit.
It seems to me that the combination of white flight and deindustrialized degradation of rust belt cities irreparably broke the image of dense, urban areas to many Americans.
To NIMBYs, upzoning doesn’t look like turning your neighborhood into a cute mixed use zone where people shop and work and live next to each other, they see it as an opportunity for “undesirables” to move in and play loud music and throw trash on the ground.
Anecdotally, some of my extended family in the Atlanta suburbs, and from what I can gather MARTA (the Atlanta subway) is constantly thwarted from expansion. In Japan, a subway line being built near you is a great thing - it instantly makes your property more valuable, since not only is it better connected to the city but it naturally encourages more people to live there, and new businesses to pop up.
In Atlanta suburbs, let’s just say the reticence is probably related to fact that surburbans call MARTA “moving Africans rapidly through Atlanta” as a joke.
Honestly, it might take a few generations to get other it, at minimum.
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Comment on Denmark wants to test whether weight-loss drugs can help get more people into work, adding a new economic dimension to the debate over obesity treatments in ~health
stu2b50 Link ParentMedicine is the product of other people’s labor as well. Profit doesn’t need to be a goal of medicine, but cost effectiveness nonetheless is something that needs to be considered, no matter the...Nobody is entitled to your labor
Medicine is the product of other people’s labor as well.
Profit doesn’t need to be a goal of medicine, but cost effectiveness nonetheless is something that needs to be considered, no matter the economic system. No matter if it’s communist, socialist, capitalist, feudalist, mercantilist.
As much as we like to think human lives are priceless, in practice it cannot be. The UK values a life at 2 million pounds, for instance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-of-risks-to-life-and-health-monetary-value-of-a-life-year-voly/annexe-5
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Comment on What do you think of robots in the military? in ~tech
stu2b50 Link ParentI don’t think so. It use to be commonplace in the 1900s for military experience to be a de facto requirement for political success. Just look at Teddy Roosevelt - and look at how he’s a psychopath...Would we have fewer wars if our presidents/prime ministers family actually had to pick up a gun and risk their lives? I think so.
I don’t think so. It use to be commonplace in the 1900s for military experience to be a de facto requirement for political success. Just look at Teddy Roosevelt - and look at how he’s a psychopath that once stated that “war is better than a boring peace”.
If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.
Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.
And it should not surprise you that this is the guy who engineered the Spanish-America war so he can play cowboy, which he enjoyed greatly, at the cost of many Cuban and later Philippine lives.
Encouraging statesmen to have military color will only select-select our politicians to be psychopathic military people.
There are people that love war, that love killing, that abhor peace. It is not true that everyone hates being a soldier. Are these the people you want in office?
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Comment on Who’s buying SpaceX and Anthropic? in ~finance
stu2b50 Link ParentWhy wouldn’t they? “You read that right” implies the reader should be surprised. Tesla is part of the SP500, as it should be. It meets all the criteria. It’s the SP500 not the NYSE500 VTI is a...The biggest holders of Tesla stock through publicly-traded ETFs are VTI and VFINX (2 Vanguard funds with $3+ trillion in investments), QQQ (of course, it's NASDAQ 100), as well as IVV and SPY - you read that right, two monumental S&P 500-tracking funds own NASDAQ-listed Tesla shares.
Why wouldn’t they? “You read that right” implies the reader should be surprised. Tesla is part of the SP500, as it should be. It meets all the criteria. It’s the SP500 not the NYSE500
VTI is a total market fund - unless Tesla wasnt listed on US stock exchanges it would by default be in VTI.
I’m not really sure that makes sense. There isn’t a clean break between generations to begin with. Generations themselves are completely arbitrary. Why would you expect art to have clean breaks? That’s just not how human lives work - people live with other people, including those 10, 20 years older and younger.
There’s plenty of creative and experimental works being made in every field, which live alongside bulkier remakes and re-hashes. That’s just how things are, and will be.