toly's recent activity
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp
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Comment on Cube World wasn't worth the wait in ~games
toly Link ParentIt feels like the fantasy that most people dream about is being manifest through the development of the game. I think most if not all people wish to be a "super-something", a super-mechanic, a...It feels like the fantasy that most people dream about is being manifest through the development of the game. I think most if not all people wish to be a "super-something", a super-mechanic, a super-athlete, or even a super-programmer that is the case here. That fantasy can begin to revolve around the core idea that if only I was good enough, then I could implement my vision and dreams the way I want without contaminating the idea or compromising on the vision. The problem with that fantasy is that it is simply not true if one starts on a sufficiently complex problem.
Wollay seems to be a person overtaken by this fantasy to the point that he is unable to make the dream, that he had a the beginning, a reality.
The true power of dreams comes from their ability to infect others who would be willing to leverage their skills in making your dreams come true. I remember thinking this way when I saw the alpha and that Wollay was working on such an ambitious project, those fears appear to have come to pass. There is a lifetime of work in a game like this and he has taken it upon himself to complete this work by himself which is a shame.
If a person who's got all the skills necessary to build his family a home takes on such a project it might take him a year to build it on his own, we would call that admirable. Sure it takes about 3000 man hours to build but it's something one man can do. If the same person says he will build the Empire State Building by himself we would call the project foolish. Sure he might be so gifted that he can work at 10x a normal person for his whole life, but the skyscraper takes about 7,000,000 man hours to build and even at 10x speed there's simply too much work for one person to finish even in their lifetime.
It feels like Wollay saw others building family homes and decided he could do better and started setting the foundation for a skyscraper. Others around him can see the shortcomings of the approach except for him, and that's a real shame.
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Comment on Need a simple way to password protect a webpage in ~comp
toly Link ParentYep, and here I thought I read all the comments carefully not to repeat someone elses idea :| Regarding the 404, it should be as simple as just adding a 404.html page.Yep, and here I thought I read all the comments carefully not to repeat someone elses idea :|
Regarding the 404, it should be as simple as just adding a 404.html page. -
Comment on Need a simple way to password protect a webpage in ~comp
toly LinkDon't know if you want everything to be self contained one one page without redirects but another option is to make a "password entry" page that will take user input. You then hash that user...Don't know if you want everything to be self contained one one page without redirects but another option is to make a "password entry" page that will take user input. You then hash that user inputted password and redirect to a path with the hash. For incorrect password attempts just have the 404 page state the password was incorrect, for a correct password it will bring up the page that corresponds to the hashed passsword.
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Comment on The MTHFR gene and why anti-vax doctors are ordering 23andMe tests in ~science
toly Link ParentYou have to start from a place where you assume someone that went through 10-ish years of schooling has some critical thinking skills and then you look for the guiding principle they operate...- Exemplary
You have to start from a place where you assume someone that went through 10-ish years of schooling has some critical thinking skills and then you look for the guiding principle they operate under. Here is the most well reasoned argument that you can make for the anti-vax argument. (there are plenty of bad ones that don't matter as much as this one)
Every pill, injection, and medical procedure carries with it some risk of a negative outcome. No matter trivial of a medical choice you make it carries with it some risk of adverse outcomes. You've got a headache, you take a tablet of acetaminophen which you know has a risk of liver damage in high doses and other harm if taken long term. In that moment you value the relief from the headache more than you fear the risk of the side effects. You're a reasonable, fairly logical person, so you make this decision based on underlying statistics and risks that you believe.
Now if we translate that same argument to vax/anti-vax debate you've got a child at risk for various communicable diseases, they haven't been sick with the disease, you haven't been sick, no one you know of has been sick with it. Now you're considering the risk of the procedure, you know it causes severe reactions sometimes, everything from stunted limb growth to Guillain-Barré to death. You've also seen plenty of vocal people who as far as you can tell have been harmed by it, displaying and attesting to their damage. And what it appears to show at least anecdotally is that the rate of harm is significantly higher than officially reported. You don't know why the rates are so low but you can at least back-of-envelope tell that the risk is kind of high. Now you have a decision to make do you accept the official rates of vaccine side effects and disease risk or do you operate under a different set of statistics? If you choose the latter then an anti-vax position is reasonable, if you choose the official numbers as your source of truth then you vaccinate.
Dismissing them as crazy is a bad decision as you lose their ear to speak truth to them. It has to be about understanding them and working on the underlying assumptions and statistics rather than the behaviors that derive from those assumptions and statistics. Try to convince them that the harm from vaccines is real but disproportionally exagerated to the number of real cases.
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Comment on Thirty essential ideas you should know about ADHD in ~health.mental
toly Link ParentOne of the things he mentioned is ways of accomodating this illness in a way to get a person to still be/become a functioning adult. One of the things I took out of all of it was actually using a...One of the things he mentioned is ways of accomodating this illness in a way to get a person to still be/become a functioning adult.
One of the things I took out of all of it was actually using a notepad to take down information about what I need to get done or other things that I need to rememeber. This is something I've noticed helped me in my day to day activities when I did it in the past but it wasn't something I stuck with. Hearing him say it the way he did gave me a little more motivation to start up the notetaking again.
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Comment on Thirty essential ideas you should know about ADHD in ~health.mental
toly LinkReally good talk by Dr. Russell A Barkley about how ADD and ADHD affects the human mind and interacting with the world around you. The focus is mostly on children but he offers lots of good...Really good talk by Dr. Russell A Barkley about how ADD and ADHD affects the human mind and interacting with the world around you. The focus is mostly on children but he offers lots of good suggestions, more towards the end, about how to deal with and mitigate the problems that arise. He has a wonderful way of explaining the issues that people with these disorders face and why it is an illness that is misunderstood and as such not properly addressed.
It's a long video and if you want to refer back to specific pieces or watch it piecemeal this is a link to a playlist that breaks up the whole thing into 10 minute chunks
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Thirty essential ideas you should know about ADHD
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Comment on What creative projects are you working on? (May 2019 edition) in ~creative
toly Link ParentIt might be that Instagram treats web scraping differently from command line downloaders. I'll give that a try, though I must admit the comments and metadata was nice to have with images.It might be that Instagram treats web scraping differently from command line downloaders. I'll give that a try, though I must admit the comments and metadata was nice to have with images.
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Comment on What creative projects are you working on? (May 2019 edition) in ~creative
toly Link ParentI'm not 100% sure but from the changes that took place it affected both API and "API-less" downloaders. I tried doing a similar one with a project from github that would return an error code on...I'm not 100% sure but from the changes that took place it affected both API and "API-less" downloaders. I tried doing a similar one with a project from github that would return an error code on the command line (not sure if it was a headless browser or not) that stated that I was being throttled. Their web interface might be using some JS to validate that it's a person so I'd really be interesed in how it works out for you.
I would personally not mind running a browser interface in the background as long as I could get the images saved locally.
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Comment on What creative projects are you working on? (May 2019 edition) in ~creative
toly Link ParentIt's actually worse than that. You're basically not going to be able to pull more than the theoretical limit of 4800 images a day at most since you'll be requesting page loads to get a profile as...It's actually worse than that.
Instagram Rate Limit Change (Oct 2018) Due to recent changes from Instagram, all apps using the Instagram API (Application Programming Interface), including Sprout, can make 200 requests per hour from Instagram's API
You're basically not going to be able to pull more than the theoretical limit of 4800 images a day at most since you'll be requesting page loads to get a profile as well. I think if you authenticate your app it might be higher but if you're just pulling public images you'll get throttled really quickly.
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Comment on What creative projects are you working on? (May 2019 edition) in ~creative
toly Link ParentSo how are you going about doing this with the strict rate limits they put in place on accessing even public accounts? Went about trying to do something like this a while back but kept running...So how are you going about doing this with the strict rate limits they put in place on accessing even public accounts? Went about trying to do something like this a while back but kept running into a lot of issues of getting it to go fast enough to make it feasible.
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Comment on Hey! How are you doing today? in ~talk
toly Link ParentThe background with this friend is that he comes from a socially, religiously, and ethnically conservative background and he is so different from how others around him appear. The on thing that...I don't know about these numbers. It certainly doesn't feel this way.
The entire post was literally written as a conversation I had with him so it definitely will fall out of sync with what you're experiencing. So don't take it as gospel for your life, take the bits that seem to make sense and pass on the others.The background with this friend is that he comes from a socially, religiously, and ethnically conservative background and he is so different from how others around him appear. The on thing that always stands out to me is the fact that he is really into metal music, DnD, and making really inappropriate jokes which coincidentally don't match up with the culture around him. Over the course of about 3 years that we've been talking I've been able to find a lot of common ground with him, ironically the metal music was one of them despite having the same background haha. But we are very close in terms of perspective on lots of things (that's where that 80% value comes from) the only thing we differ on essentially is what each of us pursued family life vs. fulfilling career. He sees himself as not normal while viewing me as completely normal even though we are very close in how we see and respond to the world.
Again it's advice that is super specific to one person but the more I talk with others as well the more I see similar in people than different, even if in their head they feel like outcasts.
Good luck in finding your footing with the therapist, hopefully you'll see yourself as just another "normal" person that still has some things to work out just like lots of other "normal" people. You'll be alright, sometimes these things just take more time than we hope to figure out.
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Comment on Hey! How are you doing today? in ~talk
toly Link ParentDidn't want to reply due to not knowing you and your situation well but I'll share the advice I give to a friend who seems to be in a similar place as you. It's important to figure out for...Didn't want to reply due to not knowing you and your situation well but I'll share the advice I give to a friend who seems to be in a similar place as you.
It's important to figure out for yourself what is important and what you value and what makes you happy. I know this is something that is difficult to do mostly because we don't know what those things are but luckily if you've got some memory of past events :P then this excercise is fortunately doable. Reflect on the things that give you satisfaction or pleasure but at the same time are dependent on you. What things were you able to do that after they were done you felt satisfied or happy about them. It might be that getting good grades or finishing a project brought you that happiness. It might have been chatting with someone else over coffee or going for a walk with a friend talking about what you're currently going through. The important thing is to put effort into actually recollecting what those events were and how they affected you.
With this friend we will meet up once a week or so and just talk, sometimes these are deep discussions about fundamental problems and sometimes they are just lighthearted chats about what shows or movies we saw. He was usually the one that initiated these talks but I was always willing to spend that time with him to help him through whatever he was going through at that moment. The point is that he was able to find someone (me) who had the time and willingness to meet up with him. He tried that with a bunch of different people and at the time when we started we were aquantainces but not really friends. It wasn't something that I did for him but that he did for himself to help himself.He is also a person who feels that since he isn't living the typical narrative of what he's supposed to do school->job->marriage->kids then he isn't complete in some way. The thing that I try to get him through to him is that each person's journey is unique to them and the things that bring them satisfaction and joy. For me early on I knew I wanted a family and kids and everything was directed at that goal. For him, he wanted a doctorate level degree and directed everything towards that goal. Now he feels he needs to change direction and that is fine because his goals and priorities have changed, yours can change as well but it's important to know how those desires are changing now. Now that you're closer to reaching your education goals you notice something is lacking so you're reevaluating your goals and there is nothing wrong with shifting them to align with what you're pursuing now. The important thing is to not feel like you've wasted time or effort in pursuing something that no longer brings you satisfaction, since it did do it in a different season of life.
Everyone is "abnormal" in their own way and people are more like you than they are different from you. You'll overlap with most people on 80% of things, the 20 or so percent that you don't align with someone will also be different with different people and that's ok. Find the groups that are closest to your values and in that group just talk with people, I think you'll find you're pretty normal despite what you think about yourself.
Hopefully this completely unsolicited commentary helps you in some way.
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Comment on Do you ever feel like you want to learn everything? in ~talk
toly LinkAs the breadth (not necessarily depth) of knowledge has increased the realization that not only will I not learn everything but that I won't even be able to learn about everything there is to...As the breadth (not necessarily depth) of knowledge has increased the realization that not only will I not learn everything but that I won't even be able to learn about everything there is to learn about has taken hold. It doesn't really bother me and has instead given me relief that I can find new and interesting things about the world we live in without having to learn everything about those things. I've come to a place where I am content to know about the things that exist without knowing everything about them.
This is probably a common experience for lots of people mostly due to our general pursuit of novelty but it's given me peace because I am starting to see my own limits of both time and ability. I realize that I can't be good at everything but I can become a person who is able to carry on conversations and discuss things no matter how niche they might be.
I definitely have friends that prefer depth over breadth in their knowledge but they are also hyper focused on one area and don't seem to struggle with trying to learn everything there is to learn.
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Comment on Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election (145MB PDF) in ~news
toly (edited )LinkSo the document is more dense than I'm used to reading but am I reading the introduction to volume 2 correctly where it states the first reason for not coming out with a decision to prosecute is...So the document is more dense than I'm used to reading but am I reading the introduction to volume 2 correctly where it states the first reason for not coming out with a decision to prosecute is simply because even the threat of prosecution would not allow the president to excercise his proper authority?
we recognized that a federal crimiinal accusation against a sitting President would place burdens on the President's capacity to govern and potentially preempt constitutional process for addressing presidential misconduct.
Because we determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment, we did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct. The evidence we obtained about the President's actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.The following paragraphs indicate that once his presidential term is complete he is open to prosecution and there appears to be at least evidence for which to prosecute and the only reason they haven't is because he won't be able to fulfill his duty as president during such a trial?
The OLC opinion also recognizes that a President does not have immunity after he leaves office.
Finally, this report was basically a way of establishing and verifying the facts so that if a prosecution were to take place this information would not be lost? Do I understand the basic gist of it correctly?
Given those considerations, the facts known to us, and the strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of the criminal justice system, we conducted a thorough factual investigation in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary materials were available.
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Comment on Light themes or Dark themes? in ~tech
toly LinkPersonal anectode coming up sample size n=1: My vision was steadily declining since my teen years but like the optomitrist predicted it stabilized somewhere around my early 20's. At that point my...Personal anectode coming up sample size n=1:
My vision was steadily declining since my teen years but like the optomitrist predicted it stabilized somewhere around my early 20's. At that point my perscription had not changed for about 7 years hovering somewhere around 3.75. About 3 years ago I started using dark themes everywhere I could at work and at home, I coupled that with flu.x since there would be a lot of nights I'd spend on the computer and it seemed to strain my eyes and could keep me awake late into the night.
So a few months ago I head out to replace my 4 year old glasses that I've basically had the entire time of this transition. My perscription went from 3.75 to 3.25 with essentially no change whatsover in besides the transition to darker themes on my work computer for web browsing and applications that support it.
That being said work computer is always dark mode, home computer is mostly dark mode, cell phone is dark mode depending on lighting (usually set by either sunset/sunrise or ambient lighting sensor). With Apple's newly found interest for dark mode on iOS and more apps supporting it these days, I'm quite hopeful that dark mode will be a function everywhere natively.
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Comment on Animating URLs with Javascript and Emojis in ~tech
toly Link ParentThe abuse should be fairly trivial to mitigate if it truly does get abused but I can totally see how something this creative could be usedThe abuse should be fairly trivial to mitigate if it truly does get abused but I can totally see how something this creative could be used
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Comment on Apple Card just defined right and wrong in FinTech in ~tech
toly Link ParentYes special purpose cards definitely have a lot of advantage over this card without a doubt. I was thinking as a general purpose catch-all card this one is not too bad. Paying bills, buying...Yes special purpose cards definitely have a lot of advantage over this card without a doubt. I was thinking as a general purpose catch-all card this one is not too bad. Paying bills, buying groceries, etc is where most (in count not necessarily amount) credit card purchases occur and it seemed like this card would be a good one to fit this general use case.
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Comment on Apple Card just defined right and wrong in FinTech in ~tech
toly Link ParentRight, definitely depends on what you're spending. I was looking at this card as more of a general spending card to determine whether it is worth it so that's why I ended up with the conclusion I did.Right, definitely depends on what you're spending. I was looking at this card as more of a general spending card to determine whether it is worth it so that's why I ended up with the conclusion I did.
The best part is that ShareX is great without any tweaking, but once you start customizing it becomes super powerful. Need to screenshot and save each time? Ok. Need to screenshot edit and copy the edited file to the clipboard automatically? Sure. Need to record a GIF to illustrate how something works when a simple screenshot won't work? Yep.
I love the fact that it's tools also look really professional when editing a screenshot. I've used the Windows Snip and Sketch but it's only really useful for capturing a picture of the screen without making any edits or arrows afterwards. Greenshot is more fully featured but its tools makes the final result look like it was done in Paint which is fine for personal use but when you're putting together anything that needs to look more polished it falls super short.
ShareX 10/10 would recommend again.