turmacar's recent activity
-
Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
-
Comment on Any good sites for e-book bundles besides Humble Bundle? in ~books
turmacar Link ParentI agree that guilt money is rare at best. I feel like Sanderson is a good rolemodel for merch though. Stickers, bookmarks, patches, hats, wall art, whatever. I totally understand that there's...I agree that guilt money is rare at best.
I feel like Sanderson is a good rolemodel for merch though. Stickers, bookmarks, patches, hats, wall art, whatever. I totally understand that there's upfront cost to that, in design work/time if nothing else. There are a lot of platforms for 'smaller' artists to sell swag. I assume they take a decent cut but that's still something. Youtubers in particular seem to have really clocked in that guilt/subscription money is only so attractive, stickers though.
It's also why bands sell merch. The smaller ones especially make almost nothing on ticket sales or streaming or record deals.
-
Comment on Masters of the Universe | Official teaser in ~movies
turmacar LinkIt looks great. Kinda wish they had the courage of their convictions and weren't doing the fish-out-of-water, "real world", adventure story thing though. I don't understand why that's the story...It looks great. Kinda wish they had the courage of their convictions and weren't doing the fish-out-of-water, "real world", adventure story thing though.
I don't understand why that's the story beat that gets shoe-horned in to so many properites. Yes Narnia and Harry Potter are neat, but kids don't need that or they can't get into a story. He-Man has demonstrably worked well enough in the past without it, that's why they're making more. I mean the Kevin Smith shows were well received AFAIK.
-
Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games
turmacar Link ParentPersonally, all of the above kinda? At this point nostalgia is definitely a huge component. Link's Awakening was one of the first games I got with the original GameBoy, and Ocarina was a staple of...Personally, all of the above kinda? At this point nostalgia is definitely a huge component. Link's Awakening was one of the first games I got with the original GameBoy, and Ocarina was a staple of middle/high school.
The story usually isn't anything special, but it's a classic framework. There's usually a lot of neat characters along the way, and a variety of settings. Even if they tend to be fire / ice / woods / etc. Some of the worlds are more interesting than others. Ocarina is a pretty straight fantasy kingdom, where WindWaker is WaterWorld. But they all at least have some character. The aesthetics tend to lean into a pretty unique blend of cozy and melancholic somehow. Though that's definitely strongest in Majora's Mask.
The puzzle aspect is really nice. There's an overworld with lots of mini-puzzles. Each dungeon is a larger inter-connected puzzle with each room being a smaller puzzle in the whole. The change in themes and tools lends to a large amount of variety in those puzzles. One of the less successful aspects of Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom for me is that the dungeons are pretty samey. There is variety, but not to the extent of the more linear games. They mostly compensate for that with a lot of the overworld locations, but still. The youtube series Boss Keys is a good review of how dungeons can be little puzzle boxes. Though like he says in the relevant video, WindWaker isn't super strong on the larger puzzle front. WW is a large influence the Switch games, maybe more than most other Zelda games.
I'm past the point of walking down a checklist to make sure I got every collectible/upgrade, but I do like that most random caves you poke your head in will give you something for your trouble. Metroidvanias tend to be my bread and butter gaming wise, and Zelda games are definitely in that vein.
For Windwaker specifically, mostly it's a vibe thing. I'm a huge sucker for travel mechanisms I find fun or relaxing. I went through Journey dozens of times. The art style is very expressive with Link's face and all the animation work on display. I was in the crowd that was upset we weren't getting a more 'dark/realistic' Zelda at the time but what we got is gorgeous in it's own right and lets them use 'cartoon' physics and logic in interesting ways. The combat especially has a lot more going on than previous Zelda games.
-
Comment on I recently finished the Cradle series by Will Wight and have post series depression. What shall I read next? in ~books
turmacar Link ParentAye, I liked the later ones, but the first duology (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) especially are feckin great. If nothing else it has the benefit of being 'done'. The only other stuff of his...Aye, I liked the later ones, but the first duology (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) especially are feckin great. If nothing else it has the benefit of being 'done'.
The only other stuff of his I've read is the Night's Dawn trilogy, which... feels like it was written by a less experienced author (because it was). Or at least didn't they grab me in the same way.
I should put his more recent stuff on the reading list though. For some reason I'm really bad about keeping up with authors instead of just series.
-
Comment on I recently finished the Cradle series by Will Wight and have post series depression. What shall I read next? in ~books
turmacar LinkPandora's Star might be right up your alley. Big ol' cyberpunk-ish space drama with trains! (the trains go through stable wormholes)Pandora's Star might be right up your alley. Big ol' cyberpunk-ish space drama with trains! (the trains go through stable wormholes)
-
Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
turmacar Link ParentWhen I checked the wiki a few hours ago it looked like it had been cancelled? Looking at the page now I think I was confusing the Brad Wright pitch and the Amazon/MGM one. Was cautiously...When I checked the wiki a few hours ago it looked like it had been cancelled? Looking at the page now I think I was confusing the Brad Wright pitch and the Amazon/MGM one.
Was cautiously optimistic about having a new SG series so hopefully it's still on.
-
Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
turmacar Link ParentWell I thought I was going to have to give the bad news about the new Stargate series but it seems like that's dead now. So no chance of disappointment on that front at least. I can't get over how...Well I thought I was going to have to give the bad news about the new Stargate series but it seems like that's dead now. So no chance of disappointment on that front at least.
I can't get over how everyone in charge of Star <Wars|Trek> seems laser focused on making their universes seem like they have a smaller population than Wyoming. Stargate at least had the excuse of the protagonists being all part of a single organization on a single planet, and actually branched off with mostly new characters/settings/situations when given the chance with Atlantis / Universe.
-
Comment on One Piece | Season 2 official teaser trailer in ~tv
turmacar LinkI've really been appreciating these recent live action anime remakes. I burned out on One-Piece a decade or so ago and it's not like it's gotten easier to catch up since. 300+ hours of show with...I've really been appreciating these recent live action anime remakes. I burned out on One-Piece a decade or so ago and it's not like it's gotten easier to catch up since. 300+ hours of show with no end in sight and what sounds like power/character creep that makes DBZ look tame. If nothing else they seem to be trimming / truncating a lot of the random side adventures in a good way.
-
Comment on "Visa" gift cards - What should I be looking at? in ~finance
turmacar Link ParentAPI is shorthand for "programatic access" basically. Programs talking to programs. It's kind of like using a command line computer interface in that it's a bunch of text in a specified format (and...API is shorthand for "programatic access" basically. Programs talking to programs. It's kind of like using a command line computer interface in that it's a bunch of text in a specified format (and encrypted) being sent back and forth.
If a bank doesn't provide some way for that to happen, the next best approach is to load the bank's website as normal, log in with your username/password, and read the webpage. This all happens in code on a server somewhere, it doesn't need a screen.
The difference is when a bank and Plaid (or whoever) are communicating through an API, the bank knows it's talking to Plaid, not you. The bank and Plaid have their own agreed encryption key/token instead of your username/password. Ideally Plaid can only read info for your accounts, because that's what you gave permission for, but not do anything else like authorize a transaction.
If they're just using username/password there's nothing to distinguish between talking to you and talking to Plaid, or whoever gets a hold of Plaid's database. Which is hopefully itself encrypted and it's not as easy as someone 'stumbling' across thousands of valid bank logons... but that's the concern.
If you also have 2 Factor Authentication set up (preferably an app instead of text messaging, but texts are better than nothing) that's another layer of security. It basically limits the time Plaid or anyone else has access to your accounts. It makes it so every time you want to refresh / load new transactions you have to give the 2FA code, which unfortunately neither Plaid or any of their competitors I've used are all that graceful about handling. Some just give up or ask you to disable it, which isn't acceptable.
-
Comment on Feeling weird about my career with respect to AI in ~life
turmacar Link ParentI think this is the biggest part of my existential dread with AI. For most people who've drank the kool-aid on it, this doesn't seem to be a step they even think about. They're not worried about...I actually had Claude help me figure out and fix a bug I’d been stuck on for a week or two, but the explanation it gave for the fix was just wrong/incomplete so it took me another three or four days of trying to look at it to actually be able to articulate why the fix worked to my coworkers. Yeah, it still probably sped me up, but at the same time, if I keep using Claude for every change I feel like I’d just continue getting lazier and forgetting how the whole codebase works.
I think this is the biggest part of my existential dread with AI.
For most people who've drank the kool-aid on it, this doesn't seem to be a step they even think about. They're not worried about understanding, because "the AI does that" (even if it demonstrably does not), so they will put the wrong explanation in the ticket / PR and move on. It's a lot of blind sprinting and assuming the road will still be under your feet and it's generating a lot of rust and deadends on a lot of codebases.
Treating LLMs as magic cognition machines feels like it's going to absolutely wreck every pipeline to every senior position in anything remotely white collar.
-
Comment on I feel that Destin (SmarterEveryDay on Youtube) is straying from the path in ~talk
turmacar Link ParentI think the Pompeii video stands out as weird because he apparently based it solely on the pop culture history from a tour-guide and ran with it. Usually his videos have much more due diligence...I think the Pompeii video stands out as weird because he apparently based it solely on the pop culture history from a tour-guide and ran with it. Usually his videos have much more due diligence applied to them. The "sex menu" theory in particular is basically Victorian silliness and is not related to actual archaeology. It felt more like an off the cuff Sunday School lesson than his normal, very well made videos.
The annoyance is the whitewashing of "obviously Christianity was against this." That's true for modern Christianity, but is absolutely not historically. At best it comes out of the reforms after Martin Luther in the 1500s. Some branches like Southern Baptists took decidedly longer to reach the same conclusion, presumably out altruism or revelation and not because of politics in the 1860s. The church was happy to endorse slavery and rape as a means to conversion for well over a thousand years, and it took hundreds of years to even advise against doing so to fellow Christians. Many that expressed what Destin would probably call "Real Christian Values" were disposed of as Heretics. Christianity didn't spread through Europe via peaceful conversion but as a prelude to how it spread through the Americas.
Ignoring that while talking about how society is generally kinder now, is just a little frustrating.
I listen to his podcast regularly as well and their general response to youtube / reddit comments seemed to be: quoting the story that modern sects use as reasoning for slavery being immoral and waving away all criticism.
I get that all this is getting in the weeds and basically a tangent to what he's talking about. But like OP it comes off as at least vaguely unsavory.
-
Comment on She fell in love with ChatGPT. Then she ghosted it. in ~tech
turmacar Link ParentThat metaphor is neat because it folds in the aspects where their memory is ethereal and their behavior erratic. At the end of the day these "personalities" are echoes from the training data like...That metaphor is neat because it folds in the aspects where their memory is ethereal and their behavior erratic. At the end of the day these "personalities" are echoes from the training data like ghosts are echos of the living.
-
Comment on Digger | Teaser in ~movies
turmacar LinkWas half hoping for a very different Digger movie for a second.Was half hoping for a very different Digger movie for a second.
-
Comment on Supergirl | Official teaser in ~movies
turmacar LinkA Guardians of DC movie looks entertaining, but it really bugs me that Krypto is the kind of dog you wouldn't want at a dog park. ( Which is apparently based on James Gunn's actual dog's behavior....A Guardians of DC movie looks entertaining, but it really bugs me that Krypto is the kind of dog you wouldn't want at a dog park. ( Which is apparently based on James Gunn's actual dog's behavior. )
A poorly behaved Pomeranian is embarrassing, but at the end of the day you can pick it up to stop it from biting anything. A poorly behaved super dog is an mass casualty event waiting to happen. Supes brings him along in the Superman movie because he's "worried about the cows" and it's played for a laugh. I'd be much more worried about him getting excited and playing too rough with people, or cars, or planes.
-
Comment on Pennies are being canceled and the US Mint won't make any more. What does that mean? in ~finance
turmacar Link ParentThey last longer than bills though. In theory if coins are valuable enough to be used for small purchases again it would be cheaper over time to strike coins instead of print bills because you'll...They last longer than bills though. In theory if coins are valuable enough to be used for small purchases again it would be cheaper over time to strike coins instead of print bills because you'll have to print many more bills over the lifetime of the coin.
-
Comment on Humble Bundle: Modern Sci-Fi Classics (Charles Soule, Joseph Fink, Hugh Howey, and Neal Stephenson) in ~books
turmacar Link ParentSevenEves and Anathem are the only other ones I've read. Weirdly the blurb they have about SevenEves is about the last ~1/3rd of the book. The earlier sections are much more disaster movie-y,...SevenEves and Anathem are the only other ones I've read.
Weirdly the blurb they have about SevenEves is about the last ~1/3rd of the book. The earlier sections are much more disaster movie-y, though handled better than most disaster movies IMO. There's some criticism that there's a hard cut to several thousand years later and now it's basically an Asimov style "look at this cool future society" but overall I thought it was a good read.
Anathem I remember enjoying but don't remember much of.
-
Comment on The shutdown of USAID has already killed hundreds of thousands in ~society
turmacar Link ParentJust for scale comparisons because I struggle with that. The population of Portland Oregon is 635,000, it's the 28th biggest city in the US. The US was going to save an equivalent amount of lives...Just for scale comparisons because I struggle with that. The population of Portland Oregon is 635,000, it's the 28th biggest city in the US.
The US was going to save an equivalent amount of lives because it was judged a good use of our tax dollars but because USAID was involved in an investigation into Elon Musk those people died.
-
Comment on Looking for movies that combine religion mythology and supernatural elements in ~movies
turmacar Link ParentA very similar era of Bettany would be Priest (2011). Kind of Equilibrium meets Van Helsing, post apocalypse (alt universe?) where vampires are a big problem. Van Helsing (2004) also has a fair...A very similar era of Bettany would be Priest (2011). Kind of Equilibrium meets Van Helsing, post apocalypse (alt universe?) where vampires are a big problem. Van Helsing (2004) also has a fair amount of religious imagery. Definitely more on the action side of thriller.
Like you said, nothing super revolutionary going on but fun enough movies. Similar to the Keanu Constantine movie.
-
Comment on Tips/guides to turn my home into a smart home? in ~tech
turmacar Link1- Do you have any recommendations of where I should start? Like for example, light switches first, then smart plugs, etc. Switches first IMO. Plugs are worth it if you have lamps and/or as...1- Do you have any recommendations of where I should start? Like for example, light switches first, then smart plugs, etc.
Switches first IMO. Plugs are worth it if you have lamps and/or as extenders for whichever network. Having the ability to use lights "as normal" is a benefit over bulbs and you don't have to worry about someone turning the switch off and suddenly those bulbs are just off instead of controlled by your automation. Also most switches you can program to do things on a double press, etc. which gives you more manual control options. Single up - main light, double up - lamp, triple up - everything, that kind of thing.
2- If I should take into consideration the number of devices. Could they potentially clog my router or my wifi AP's if they get too many? If yes, is there a way to prevent this?
I have zigbee and z-wave networks along with my wifi one. It means a greater diversity of devices but with Home Assistant coordinating everything, how they connect to HA is a much smaller detail and allows me to use anything. Z-wave can be a complication apparently for some people because it uses overlapping frequencies with wifi, but I haven't noticed any issues.
4- Do you have any tips, advice or warnings in general? Like problems that you know that I'll run into later, or things that you don't think are worth smartifying, etc (whatever you want to say, give it to me, I'll appreciate anything)
I originally centralized around Google Home and became dissatisfied with the customizability. It can work pretty well for a lot but you generally have to get it talking to SmartThings and/or some other hub and then you lose the centralized aspect of it, and it requires an internet connection for a lot. Maybe it's gotten better since I switched to Home Assistant but I really like that HA is completely local.
I have a home server but I put HA on a Raspberry pi 5 for redundancy. I don't want a storage array issue or my dealing with dockers or whatever to make my lights not work. I'm using HA Container in a docker instead of the HA OS so I can also have pihole on that pi, using it 'just' for HA seems like overkill to me. But I'm also getting annoyed not having access to Add-Ons occasionally so that might change. You can install them manually, most of the time there's even instructions, but it's just overall a much more involved process than clicking a button.
I would definitely prefer zigbee/z-wave/matter devices over Wifi devices. If nothing else they use dramatically less power. I have zigbee motion detectors that have been running for years off a coin cell battery.
MQTT is well worth setting up, it's a backend communication server / protocol that other stuff can hook into and then be read by Home Assistant. IIRC it's the preferred / recommended middleman for zigbee stuff anyway, but it also gives an easy connection point for web based tools, etc.
I am strategically upgrading to mmWave detectors (basically small scale radar instead of the more passive detectors) that need to be wired because they have gotten more affordable and for stuff like the bathroom they provide more granularity / capability. It can see through my shower curtain so I don't have to guess based off a timer if someone is still in there for example. I think they're neat and worth getting in specific rooms, but the cheaper sensors are probably the primary ones you want.
That phrasing is doing a lot of work. They're obviously regretting the discourse around Renee Good. But the videos I've seen are a lot of officers milling around, not rushing to render aid.
Granted... with that number of shots fired at that range it seems dubious that there would be any aid to render. But that just makes it feel even more like the opening salvo of the PR war over whether this man deserved to die because he had a weapon on his person in the presence of an officer.