trobertson's recent activity
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Comment on A tower on Billionaires' Row in New York is full of cracks. Who's to blame? (gifted link) in ~engineering
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Comment on Linux noob question regarding full / partition in ~comp
trobertson LinkI second Greg's advice but I'd go further - for a personal machine, partitioning is a total noob trap. Distros putting it in the default path of their installer is a mistake. And it's easy to see...I second Greg's advice but I'd go further - for a personal machine, partitioning is a total noob trap. Distros putting it in the default path of their installer is a mistake. And it's easy to see this with a very quick cost/benefit look.
Q1: What benefit do you get from partitioning the drive(s) of a personal machine?
A: Nothing. Dedicated hobbyists, or people who research filesystems, may gain some use from partitioning. But normal users (even most linux power users) get no benefits from partitioning.
Q2: What costs do you incur from partitioning?
A:
- You need to learn what partitioning is
- You need to guess, ahead of time, what your needs will be across the next several years
- You run into space problems as software (and its requirements) inevitably grow.
There are more costs, too, but you are personally encountering those right now.
Now, for a server, partitioning can be very useful. But that's not your use case.
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Comment on The precarious "economy” of Fallout: New Vegas in ~games
trobertson LinkOff topic: The trend of A/B testing video titles is getting pretty irritating. For me, the video's title is "What Is Fallout New Vegas' Unemployment Rate?", which is in-line with Austin's other...Off topic:
The trend of A/B testing video titles is getting pretty irritating. For me, the video's title is "What Is Fallout New Vegas' Unemployment Rate?", which is in-line with Austin's other videos like this.
It makes me think that this post's title is wrong. But at the same time, I fully expect that the post's title IS the video title that the poster saw.
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Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games
trobertson LinkI've been playing Elin for the past week and it has sucked me in. I think this'll be hit or miss; if it's your thing, it's really your thing. It is a sandbox fantasy life sim. There's two kinds of...I've been playing Elin for the past week and it has sucked me in. I think this'll be hit or miss; if it's your thing, it's really your thing.
It is a sandbox fantasy life sim. There's two kinds of gameplay that feed into each other - adventuring, and building up your settlement.
I would maybe describe it as "Stardew Valley and a sandbox JRPG roguelike had a baby."
There is a lot of weird and unusual stuff in the game. You mostly don't need to engage with it, but occasionally it's unavoidable.
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Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games
trobertson Link ParentI second Noita, it's brilliant. If you find yourself getting frustrated, it is a good idea to go to the Workshop and get Edit Wands Always. Technically it's cheating, but it makes the game so much...I second Noita, it's brilliant.
If you find yourself getting frustrated, it is a good idea to go to the Workshop and get Edit Wands Always. Technically it's cheating, but it makes the game so much more accessible and fun when you are struggling to even understand what's going on.
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Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games
trobertson Link Parent(imo) It's the book. I irritation-quit the game after the fourth or fifth time the game yanked me out of the scene to watch a full minute of page flipping. That fucking book refuses to let you...(imo) It's the book. I irritation-quit the game after the fourth or fifth time the game yanked me out of the scene to watch a full minute of page flipping. That fucking book refuses to let you play the game; you spend as much time waiting on the book to finish flipping its pages as you do playing the actual game.
Aside from the book stealing >50% of the runtime, the game looks (and is) excellent.
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Comment on The cultural decline of literary fiction in ~books
trobertson LinkAn(other) attempt to figure out why contemporary literary fiction doesn't sell well. The author doesn't settle at "modern lit is woke", because that doesn't explain the >50 years trend. Instead,...An(other) attempt to figure out why contemporary literary fiction doesn't sell well. The author doesn't settle at "modern lit is woke", because that doesn't explain the >50 years trend. Instead, the author looks for other factors that could explain why we see the beginning of the literary downfall long before identity politics came to the fore.
This piece primarily looks at American literature; the rest of the world is left as an open question.
Choice quotes (without giving away the author's conclusions):
Yet no one seems willing to contend with the fact that this is not just an issue for literary men, it’s an issue for everyone. What non-identity quality do The Greats have in common that virtually all young contemporary literary fiction writers (Rooney aside), don’t?
Something about literary fiction has changed in recent years that has put it off to mass audiences. Han locates the change in “wokeness,” but the timing doesn’t work — this shift was already in full swing before the 2010s when “woke” became a salient issue.
... people still read plenty of literary fiction, what they don’t read is contemporary literary fiction. Books like Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, etc still sell many thousands of copies every year, more than even big hits in contemporary literary fiction. And look at any survey of contemporary audiences' favorite books. Plenty of literary fiction there. So I think there’s a strong enough warrant here that the ‘taste-change’ hypothesis can’t be right either — unless the internet made people’s tastes magically shift away from contemporary literary fiction but not classics.
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The cultural decline of literary fiction
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Comment on Why the video games industry is struggling to stay profitable in ~games
trobertson LinkIt looks like she's drawing a lot from https://www.matthewball.co/all/stateofvideogaming2025 I highly recommend going through the slides yourself. I spent a few hours doing so a few days ago and...It looks like she's drawing a lot from https://www.matthewball.co/all/stateofvideogaming2025
I highly recommend going through the slides yourself. I spent a few hours doing so a few days ago and learned a lot about the state of the industry.
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Comment on Nintendo President on the new Switch 2, tariffs and what's next for the company in ~games
trobertson Link Parent(Not a Nintendo player): Doesn't Nintendo already do the nickel-and-dime bullshit? Isn't that what the Amibos are?(Not a Nintendo player): Doesn't Nintendo already do the nickel-and-dime bullshit? Isn't that what the Amibos are?
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Comment on Thor Bjørklund's ostehøvel, a popular cheese slicer which developed into an important Norwegian export, celebrates 100 this year in ~engineering
trobertson Link ParentCheese graters are pretty common. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61K1cMcI9YL._AC_SL1002_.jpg They do 4 things to an okay-ish standard: slice, grate (big strips), grate (small strips), and shred.Cheese graters are pretty common. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61K1cMcI9YL._AC_SL1002_.jpg
They do 4 things to an okay-ish standard: slice, grate (big strips), grate (small strips), and shred.
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Comment on What books are best read with zero advance knowledge? in ~books
trobertson Link ParentHonestly, you just rekindled my interest in TBK. I put it down at about 30% of the way in (and I picked up Umineko instead, which is also a murder mystery (of sorts)). Tensions had been slowly...At its core, it's a murder mystery.
Honestly, you just rekindled my interest in TBK. I put it down at about 30% of the way in (and I picked up Umineko instead, which is also a murder mystery (of sorts)). Tensions had been slowly rising, and I can see lots of motives from where I left off, but damn is it a slow start.
I went in totally blind on the faith that people wouldn't call Dostoevsky one of the greatest writers ever unless his works were actually good. I had become convinced that it was merely a "period" drama and that it wasn't for me.
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Comment on What contemporary books do you think will still be widely read 100 years from now? in ~books
trobertson Link ParentI've only read a bit of Christie, and it was some time ago, but I remember her being foundational for what we understand as mystery stories today. Christie's thing was psychology and getting into...I'm an Agatha Christie enjoyer, but I do not think her novels have any particular component that make them cherished or important pieces of art beyond being solid stories with mass appeal.
I've only read a bit of Christie, and it was some time ago, but I remember her being foundational for what we understand as mystery stories today.
Christie's thing was psychology and getting into the minds of the active participants of both the murder and the investigation. In her works murders don't just happen; they are deliberate, and we can see how the murderer(s) decided that murder was the only option.
(I don't think this had been done before her; psychology had only recently become considered a powerful tool for understanding the mind. I am given to understand that other authors like Dostoevsky were bringing in heavy elements of psychology before she was even born, but none brought it to murder mysteries in the way that Christie did.)
Additionally, she also kind of reinvented what a murder mystery could be. And Then There Were None and The Murder On The Orient Express were stories that had never been done before - at all.
Agatha Christie, along with Arthur Conan Doyle, are the mother and father respectively of contemporary mystery and investigation stories. Basically everything draws from them in some way, in the same way that basically all contemporary fantasy draws from Tolkien in some way.
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Comment on The 2024 Steam Winter Sale is live (runs December 19 - January 2) in ~games
trobertson Link ParentI haven't played it yet, but apparently Dread Delusion is similar to Morrowind and other old-school open world RPGs. Another one I haven't played, Drova: Forsaken Kin, is allegedly a 2D Gothic-like.I haven't played it yet, but apparently Dread Delusion is similar to Morrowind and other old-school open world RPGs.
Another one I haven't played, Drova: Forsaken Kin, is allegedly a 2D Gothic-like.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
trobertson Link ParentWord of advice - Act 2 has some parts coming up where you probably don't want the difficulty cranked up. I would recommend that you keep it on Normal until you hit Act 3. Decide then, but probably...I'm in act 2 now, level 6, playing on normal and the game actually feels pretty easy now -- I'm thinking about cranking the difficulty up a bit.
Word of advice - Act 2 has some parts coming up where you probably don't want the difficulty cranked up. I would recommend that you keep it on Normal until you hit Act 3. Decide then, but probably not before then.
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Comment on The case for left-handed representation in gaming in ~games
trobertson LinkPathfinder: Kingmaker offers this. It's not really mechanically relevant, but it's right there when you make your character. Interestingly, the following games from that same studio don't include...Pathfinder: Kingmaker offers this. It's not really mechanically relevant, but it's right there when you make your character.
Interestingly, the following games from that same studio don't include handedness for characters.
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Comment on A freeze dryer is not a reasonable purchase in ~tech
trobertson LinkFor someone else using a freeze dryer, here's SteveMRE1989 making (and enjoying!) a freeze dried homemade Thanksgiving MRE. https://youtu.be/9183p7iJ5E0For someone else using a freeze dryer, here's SteveMRE1989 making (and enjoying!) a freeze dried homemade Thanksgiving MRE.
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Comment on A summer Covid-19 wave in ~health
trobertson Link ParentI'd like to rebut this - politics is not divorced from life. Politics is not some separate issue that can be considered in isolation. By pretending that it is, you are participating in the...I know that it's hard to empathize with a political enemy
"political" enemy
I'd like to rebut this - politics is not divorced from life. Politics is not some separate issue that can be considered in isolation. By pretending that it is, you are participating in the gaslight that politics is a team sport that can be ignored between the biennial votes.
The Republicans have chosen the path of existential threat.
- They wave Nazi flags. They knowingly collaborate with Nazis. Jewish people have the right to feel existential threat, and the right to respond accordingly.
- They wave Confederate flags. They openly advocate for race war. All non-white people have the right to feel existential threat, and the right to respond accordingly.
- They are dismantling the Civil Rights Act. For a second time, all non-white people have the right to feel existential threat, and the right to respond accordingly.
- They dissolved the right to abortion. This will directly lead to the death of thousands of women. In any other time- in any other place- this is called massacre. Women have the right to feel existential threat, and the right to respond accordingly.
- At the RNC, they are blatantly calling for the death of liberals. Non-Republicans have the right to feel existential threat, and the right to respond accordingly.
If you think they will not act on these threats, then you are a fool:
- in Bush v. Gore, they interfered with the vote and set the precedent that the courts can decide elections.
- They have, in Citizen's United, disenfranchised the individual and empowered special interests.
- On January 6, they made their first attempt to ignore the vote, and are now using those court cases to make the next attempt easier.
- They have, just a few weeks ago, allowed government officials to take not-bribes from special interests.
- They have, just a few weeks ago, set the stage for dictatorship by making the President unaccountable.
They are publicly acting on their threats. They are publicly advancing their agendas.
They are not trying to hide that they want to hurt people. They are not trying to hide that they want to abolish democracy. They are not trying to hide that they are fascist.
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Comment on Six distinct types of depression identified in Stanford Medicine-led study in ~health.mental
trobertson Link ParentSciHub, which is just out-of-date enough to be immune to AI slop. Questionably legal, but unquestionably the best tool.SciHub, which is just out-of-date enough to be immune to AI slop. Questionably legal, but unquestionably the best tool.
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Comment on We need to rethink exercise – the workout paradox in ~health
trobertson Link ParentChecked a couple out, they are empty channels with links to adult sites in their bio. Some of their profile pics are blatantly pornographic, I'm surprised youtube hasn't cracked down on them.Also, what's with all the naked female butts in the comments?
Checked a couple out, they are empty channels with links to adult sites in their bio. Some of their profile pics are blatantly pornographic, I'm surprised youtube hasn't cracked down on them.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail