thereticent's recent activity

  1. Comment on What fictional world would you live in, if you could pick any one? in ~talk

  2. Comment on What fictional world would you live in, if you could pick any one? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    I see your TNG and raise you Generations. I know I'm just tired and burnt out, but my fictional universe within a fictional universe would be the Nexus.

    I see your TNG and raise you Generations. I know I'm just tired and burnt out, but my fictional universe within a fictional universe would be the Nexus.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Move over toasters: Doom is now playable inside a PDF in ~games

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Great tip about PDF/A. Re Adobe and the PDF nightmare, I wonder whether the PSD format is similarly junky.

    Great tip about PDF/A.

    Re Adobe and the PDF nightmare, I wonder whether the PSD format is similarly junky.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Move over toasters: Doom is now playable inside a PDF in ~games

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    The individual institutions may, and the big ones do, but they expect everyone else to use it regardless. Even worse is that most don't know how best to use it. I see so many PDFs of images of...

    The individual institutions may, and the big ones do, but they expect everyone else to use it regardless. Even worse is that most don't know how best to use it. I see so many PDFs of images of OCR-able text per day, that I can only laugh to stave off the despair. :)

    Not to mention all the "digitally signed" documents that just include an inserted image of a signature. Or those forms sent with the requirement that we print, sign, scan, and return. Bonkers. I need to do a breathing exercise right now.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Move over toasters: Doom is now playable inside a PDF in ~games

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    I think that may be field- or site -specific. In academia and healthcare, it's just PDFs all over the damned place.

    I think that may be field- or site -specific. In academia and healthcare, it's just PDFs all over the damned place.

    13 votes

  6. Comment on Matt Mullenweg deactivates WordPress accounts of contributors planning a fork in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    To me, this is the heart of the issue. In general, we avoid conflicts of interest for many reasons, but one is to demonstrate purity of motive. He may be defending WP from pure motives, but he is...

    To me, this is the heart of the issue. In general, we avoid conflicts of interest for many reasons, but one is to demonstrate purity of motive. He may be defending WP from pure motives, but he is being an asshole about it, and he has a conflict of interest that prevents me (and apparently a lot of people) from believing that his motives are pure.

    I am inclined to accept that WPEngine is fanning the flames caused by his misbehavior in reaction to their actions. So sure, a smear campaign in that it is intentional and systematic, but really not a traditional smear campaign because they aren't lies or out of context. WPE is provoking and amplifying his shitty behavior, and they have a profit motive to do so as well. So I don't buy the justice part here either.

    He should move on and entrust the open source component to practical idealists who can control themselves. He's an OSS warrior who has become power-addled, ego-fragile, and is in over his head at this point.

    Just my outside take from being an open source lurker for 25 years.

    6 votes

  7. Comment on Fighting a one-of-a-kind disease in ~science

    thereticent
    Link
    The dad is Matt of matt.might.net, for those who followed his blog. I did, a long time ago, and I had no idea about their son. Also perhaps best known on the Internet for the Illustrated Guide to...

    The dad is Matt of matt.might.net, for those who followed his blog. I did, a long time ago, and I had no idea about their son.

    Also perhaps best known on the Internet for the Illustrated Guide to a PhD.

    Sorry--I've been around too long not to play internet historian when I recognize someone in an unrelated story.

    My best to the Mights. Such a heart-rending journey.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on What goals or ambitions do you have for 2025? in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    This is exactly me, other than the business. But I want to ship major "products" in each of my three major areas of funding. Maybe go up for tenure?

    This is exactly me, other than the business. But I want to ship major "products" in each of my three major areas of funding. Maybe go up for tenure?

    2 votes

  9. Comment on If your games library disappeared, which games would you repurchase? in ~games

    thereticent
    Link
    Answering for my kids (whose happiness is my happiness): Geometry Dash Celeste Minecraft Java Portal Portal 2 Cookie Clicker (the one I don't enjoy)

    Answering for my kids (whose happiness is my happiness):

    Geometry Dash
    Celeste
    Minecraft Java
    Portal
    Portal 2
    Cookie Clicker (the one I don't enjoy)

    5 votes

  10. Comment on All main Disney animated canon films are going to be destroyed and you can save five, which five do you pick? in ~movies

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    (Twists moustache) He tried to sell me a stolen motorcar.

    (Twists moustache) He tried to sell me a stolen motorcar.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC? in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Oh! I fell prey to the misconception that WSL is only available on Windows Pro. I guess it's a portion of the hypervisor, the rest of which is made available on Pro. Thanks!

    Oh! I fell prey to the misconception that WSL is only available on Windows Pro. I guess it's a portion of the hypervisor, the rest of which is made available on Pro.

    Thanks!

  12. Comment on Do not fix bugs reported in your open source projects in ~comp

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    I appreciate this. I don't know how to fix anything, but I have used so much software that I do know how to describe the circumstances of a bug pretty well (and supply logs, screenshots, etc). I...

    I appreciate this. I don't know how to fix anything, but I have used so much software that I do know how to describe the circumstances of a bug pretty well (and supply logs, screenshots, etc). I like to think my feedback on open source projects has been a net positive, but who really knows.

    8 votes

  13. Comment on Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC? in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Hey thanks. Photopea is what I used quite a few years ago. My kid started in Photoshop at school, and after trying GIMP at home he started to prefer it. It's more like the way he thinks, he said....

    Hey thanks. Photopea is what I used quite a few years ago. My kid started in Photoshop at school, and after trying GIMP at home he started to prefer it. It's more like the way he thinks, he said. But he's very new at it still. I'll definitely ask him to give Photopea a try.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC? in ~tech

  15. Comment on Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC? in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Oh right, I didn't explain that. I have a Microsoft account that I've previously used to purchase Minecraft Java Edition, and this is the account I used as the main Windows administrator account...

    Oh right, I didn't explain that. I have a Microsoft account that I've previously used to purchase Minecraft Java Edition, and this is the account I used as the main Windows administrator account for the PC. I made a second administrator user for my son, and I made a new Microsoft account in his name for that user profile and for (hopefully) logging in to Minecraft.

    As an update, I've since realized that I would have to repurchase Minecraft using his account to do what I'm wanting, so I think he and I will just have to deal with the login annoyances.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC? in ~tech

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Hey thanks! I would have left that Nvidia app going if you hadn't mentioned it.

    Hey thanks! I would have left that Nvidia app going if you hadn't mentioned it.

    3 votes

  17. Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC?

    ~tech Ask (recommendations)
    Hi folks--I am very excited about a gaming PC that I just bought for my family (mainly 13yo son into gaming, coding, and digital art). I installed the video card (only piece sent separately), went...

    Hi folks--I am very excited about a gaming PC that I just bought for my family (mainly 13yo son into gaming, coding, and digital art).

    I installed the video card (only piece sent separately), went through Windows setup/updates. Installed peripherals. Updated video card drivers. Installed Steam/GIMP/Krita. Made 13yo an adult in my Steam Family. Installed a few of the games so something is ready to run right away. I even have the small Wacom tablet working in GIMP and Inkscape with a good pressure profile!

    All that said, I used to set up my own Windows PCs (looooong) ago, and I'm wondering if it's really that simple. It was very easy.

    I did small utility things like run Startallback and install PowerToys. I figured MS Visual Code is next?

    Anything else you all can suggest?

    (P.S. is there a way to move all his Minecraft stuff to his new Microsoft account? He's tired of logging in as me, and I'm tired of sending him auth codes.)

    26 votes

  18. Comment on "Shower thoughts" and other things to ponder in ~talk

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    Nah they just took a plane, circled around until it got dark, then landed

    Nah they just took a plane, circled around until it got dark, then landed

  19. Comment on You make friends *HERE*?! in ~tildes

    thereticent
    Link Parent
    There's a small-web, community-nurturing internet project called Tilde.club, and tildeverse sites are those made by and for that community and other small-webbers. It sounds so much like this site...

    There's a small-web, community-nurturing internet project called Tilde.club, and tildeverse sites are those made by and for that community and other small-webbers.

    It sounds so much like this site when I put it into text, but it's unrelated as far as I know.

    6 votes

  20. Comment on What short standalone book is worth more than its page count? in ~books

    thereticent
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    So great to see big Vonnegut fans. A memory I will always cherish is when in high school, I went to one of his readings in Indianapolis. It was at an art center and displayed his (and I think his...

    So great to see big Vonnegut fans.

    A memory I will always cherish is when in high school, I went to one of his readings in Indianapolis. It was at an art center and displayed his (and I think his son's?) visual art as well. His reading was a passage from Beowulf in the original Old English. Lovely. I usually try to get some me-time after a while at events to decompress, so I went outside and around to the side of the building. It took me a bit to realize KV was having a cigarette beside me. We made brief eye contact and nodded to each other, said nothing, and just...coexisted until he left after a bit. Quick smile as he left.

    It can sound embellished, I know, but it really was impactful being mutually seen by/with a personal favorite. It was like having real-life confirmation of that conspiratorial and personal feeling with the author while reading their sardonic handiwork. I know he left Indiana for NY and barely looked back, but wow, talk about flipping over the "don't meet your idols" maxim. Maybe it's "don't talk to your idols when you meet them, if you can tell they don't want to talk." :) it's really influenced my way of being, hence the username I've had since around that time on various platforms.

    Anyway, thanks for setting off a trip down memory lane. My favorite shifts with my memory, but a consistent favorite is Jailbird. Time for a reread.

    1 vote