zini's recent activity
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Comment on ChatGPT made me delusional in ~tech
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Comment on A new eye implant proves remarkably effective in restoring sight for people with age-related macular degeneration in ~health
zini LinkIncredible! Medical technology is one of the few sectors of the tech industry that actually seems to be improving life for people. This is a way to use AI technology to actually help the world,...Incredible! Medical technology is one of the few sectors of the tech industry that actually seems to be improving life for people. This is a way to use AI technology to actually help the world, compared to other parts of the industry which serve to undermine the credibility of every video on the internet (cough sora 2 cough).
This is very cool, thanks for sharing it.
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Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
zini Link ParentWhat I don't understand is if the intention was to cut and sell untraceable diamonds, why steal crown jewels from the Louvre? You could have just robbed a jewelry store or something. I mean, I...What I don't understand is if the intention was to cut and sell untraceable diamonds, why steal crown jewels from the Louvre? You could have just robbed a jewelry store or something. I mean, I think some oligarch somewhere would pay top dollars for the jewels now that they have a story attached to them. Seems like a waste to just cut them up and sell them as if they were any old stone.
Then again, maybe they did it because security at jewelry stores is much higher than at the Louvre!
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Comment on Cycling is revolutionising transport in ~transport
zini Link ParentYes, it's the throttle that's the problem. There is a world of difference between an experienced cyclist, who has likely developed a great deal of situational awareness and knows how to safely go...Yes, it's the throttle that's the problem. There is a world of difference between an experienced cyclist, who has likely developed a great deal of situational awareness and knows how to safely go fast versus some teenager on an e-bike going "throttle go brrrrr"
Not to mention, e-bikes are quite heavy compared to your average road bike, which makes them harder to control. This makes them even more dangerous in the hands of an inexperienced cyclist.
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Comment on I need headphone/mic recommendations for gaming before I rip my hair out in ~tech
zini LinkMy opinion is that any USB condenser mic from Amazon will do the trick for you if you're just doing voice chat. I bought one for 25$ CAD a few years ago. It serves me dutifully, although the stand...My opinion is that any USB condenser mic from Amazon will do the trick for you if you're just doing voice chat. I bought one for 25$ CAD a few years ago. It serves me dutifully, although the stand is worse for wear these days. Use the rest of the money you've got for a decent pair of headphones. I have AKG K240 headphones, but I've also used the Monoprice modern retro headphones and Superlux hd681 headphones which are cheaper options than the AKGs with good sound quality.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
zini LinkI've been reading You Can't Win the autobiography of Jack Black, not the actor in School of Rock but rather the Canadian-American thief born in 1876. The book talks of his days hopping freight...I've been reading You Can't Win the autobiography of Jack Black, not the actor in School of Rock but rather the Canadian-American thief born in 1876. The book talks of his days hopping freight trains, pulling capers stealing watches, jewels, banknotes, his time in prisons in America and Canada, as well as his escape from a few of them. He talks of his addiction to opium, and how his habits kept him broke and constantly looking for another big score. He talks of the futility of prison as a method to reform people. It is a very good book! Jack talks of the darkest times in his life with good humour.
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Comment on Colorado deputies investigating after $1.4 million of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles stolen from semi-truck in ~games
zini Link ParentMakes me miss the good old days of heisting when the loot couldn't be remotely disabled 😔Makes me miss the good old days of heisting when the loot couldn't be remotely disabled 😔
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Comment on Favorite mobile games for short play sessions? in ~games
zini LinkTetris, obviously. Perfect game for short sessions, but if that's not your thing.... The Escapists! Also an excellent game for short sessions as you can pop in while you're on the bus and work...Tetris, obviously. Perfect game for short sessions, but if that's not your thing.... The Escapists!
Also an excellent game for short sessions as you can pop in while you're on the bus and work toward escaping prison.If neither of these are your fancy, then Super Hexagon could be a good shout. Rhythm games are always good for a quick session every now and again.
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Comment on 007 First Light announced (Gameplay reveal next week) in ~games
zini LinkI am a huge fan of the recent Hitman games and I hope IOI can keep up their streak of very good stealth sandboxes. What really motivated me to keep playing Hitman was collecting all the suits, and...I am a huge fan of the recent Hitman games and I hope IOI can keep up their streak of very good stealth sandboxes. What really motivated me to keep playing Hitman was collecting all the suits, and I get great enjoyment from wearing the right suits to fit each location.
Basically, I just played Hitman like a dress up game with optional assassination mechanics. I would love to see a more in depth outfit system than what was in the Hitman games.
If that's not an option, I'll be satisfied if we get a black suit with a red tie as a nod to 47.
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Comment on What is a book that every 13-year-old boy should read? in ~books
zini LinkWhen I was around 13 I loved reading Moby Dick (the abridged version, I have the hardcover unabridged version now and I believe it could double as a bludgeon) at school when I was done my work. I...When I was around 13 I loved reading Moby Dick (the abridged version, I have the hardcover unabridged version now and I believe it could double as a bludgeon) at school when I was done my work. I believe it was the Great Illustrated Classics version. From what I can remember my key takeaways were that whales are really cool, the sea is really cool, and that holding grudges harms you and others around you more than the subject of your grudge. Good lessons for any boy coming up in the world.
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Comment on Wolfenstein The New Colossus and messy executions in ~games
zini Link ParentYou do get to kill some of them if you replay locations with the enigma machine but yes there aren't as many hooded men to kill as I'd have liked. Another sequel to a beloved franchise that didn't...You do get to kill some of them if you replay locations with the enigma machine but yes there aren't as many hooded men to kill as I'd have liked.
Another sequel to a beloved franchise that didn't meet fan expectations was Mafia 3 (which I did like, I found it to be a perfectly cromulemt open world game) and in that one you got to crucify and light on fire the leader of the games KKK.
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Comment on Besides Shawshank Redemption, what films do you like that feature grit, resilience, endurance under hostile circumstances? in ~movies
zini LinkWatch Io Capitano, please! Excellent film overshadowed at the academy awards by Zone of Interest. I'll concede Zone of Interest deserved to win best foreign film, but Io Capitano was great too and...Watch Io Capitano, please! Excellent film overshadowed at the academy awards by Zone of Interest. I'll concede Zone of Interest deserved to win best foreign film, but Io Capitano was great too and I think it fits your criteria excellently.
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Comment on What side-gigs or passive income methods have you found helpful for earning a small amount of extra money? in ~finance
zini LinkThe profit margins aren't too bad and it depends on your skill set and available tools but I like to scour eBay and Facebook Marketplace for lots of not working/for parts video game consoles and...The profit margins aren't too bad and it depends on your skill set and available tools but I like to scour eBay and Facebook Marketplace for lots of not working/for parts video game consoles and computers to fix and sell. How many of the items in the lot you can actually flip will be affected by your skills and sometimes you have to wait around to get a replacement part (but occasionally you can frankenstein a working system out of 2-3 not working ones).
The more money you get you can invest into tools like an SMD rework station but a lot of the time you can get by with just a multimeter and soldering iron. Home consoles are pretty easy to work on, older laptops and PCs are a breeze. Portable consoles get more complex the more recently they released, I worked my way up from Gameboys to 3DS' but I wouldn't bother with a for parts 3DS lot unless you're confident because 3DS consoles are quite valuable (they're going through their nostalgia boom right now) but my god are they a nightmare to work on. Sometimes you get lucky and it's just a software problem and you can fix it by reinstalling a custom firmware but I'd steer clear.
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Comment on Your favorite game OSTs in ~games
zini LinkI am remiss nobody has mentioned the Payday 2 OST yet! Ode to Greed was the track for "The Big Bank" heist that had some sick neoclassical architecture, there was a random chance that the techno...I am remiss nobody has mentioned the Payday 2 OST yet!
Ode to Greed was the track for "The Big Bank" heist that had some sick neoclassical architecture, there was a random chance that the techno remix would play, with opera vocalists singing.
8Bits are Scary is a chiptune remake of an older song on the soundtrack called Clowns are Scary. To be honest, I think the chiptune version is better.
Code SIlver 2018 remake of the original Code SIlver which was in the first Payday game. Excellent track.
Hot Pursuit inspired by Hotline Miami and released with the Payday 2 x Hotline Miami crossover. So good!
In order of how much I like them, all three songs made by Le Castle Vania for Payday 2: Use of Force (that string part at the end, whew), Fully Loaded Epic Win, and Infinite Ammo
And the two songs released in conjunction with the Reservoir Dogs (yes, like the Tarantino movie) heist are great too. Trouble Always Inbound and Mr. Purple.
The entire Payday 2 OST is gold but these are all ones that I think work well even when not playing the game.
Honorable mention to the Yakuza 0 OST (Koi no Disco Queen, is great and so is Judgement) (seriously they could have just licensed a bunch of tracks from the 80s but they made all new ones? that's so cool)
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Comment on Deciding which version of Minecraft Java to play. (AKA, what's your favourite update?) in ~games
zini LinkA very nostalgic update for me is 1.13, I spent lots of time playing that version on the PS3 as it was the last update the legacy console editions ever received. I like it because I think it's a...A very nostalgic update for me is 1.13, I spent lots of time playing that version on the PS3 as it was the last update the legacy console editions ever received. I like it because I think it's a good mix between the convenience of more recent updates and the charm of old Minecraft, it's got the old textures but a lot of the niceties of modern Minecraft. I love playing older versions, I've spent lots of time on 1.7.10 and beta 1.8 but the swimming in older Minecraft is just... ugh.
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Comment on How a simple math error sparked a panic about black plastic kitchen utensils in ~health
zini Link ParentJust stick to wood on your non stick and cast iron/carbon steel pans if you don't want to mess them up. I prefer to use silicon or wooden utensils to metal ones most of the time (not a huge fan of...Just stick to wood on your non stick and cast iron/carbon steel pans if you don't want to mess them up. I prefer to use silicon or wooden utensils to metal ones most of the time (not a huge fan of the sound of metal scraping metal!)
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Comment on Kagi Translate in ~tech
zini LinkI gave it a shot. It's interesting for sure, and I appreciate just how many more languages there are to choose from than DeepL. However, as they say in the blog post they use LLMs for translation....I gave it a shot. It's interesting for sure, and I appreciate just how many more languages there are to choose from than DeepL. However, as they say in the blog post they use LLMs for translation. Which would be fine on the face of it, but I think because the AI has restrictions on curses and swears the translation is Ned Flander-ized sometimes.
In some cases the translation is just as vulgar as the input, in some cases it's censored with asterisks and in others it's just mistranslated to be less vulgar, "damn" instead of "f**k" etc. It's not very consistent.
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Comment on ‘Venom 3’ slinks to $51 million, lowest opening weekend of comic book trilogy in ~movies
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Comment on Subnautica 2 | Official teaser trailer in ~games
zini LinkI thought Below Zero was fine, but it was not anywhere near as good as the first game upon replaying it. A major aspect of Subnautica that I loved was the feeling of bitter isolation. The lack of...I thought Below Zero was fine, but it was not anywhere near as good as the first game upon replaying it. A major aspect of Subnautica that I loved was the feeling of bitter isolation. The lack of any other living person in the game and the lack of a voiced protagonist compounded in this feeling of total helplessness and fear that really played into my thalassophobia. Below Zero had the strange reveal Maida was still alive, which I can rationalize as the fact she's just so cool she can breathe underwater and also is immune to disease but I couldn't get over the fact there was someone else here.
BZ has no sense of urgency, you aren't the sole survivor of a disastrous shipwreck trying to stay alive. You just show up in a drop pod to investigate your sister's death. Unfortunately there's no reason for me to care about it. I don't know who the protagonist's sister is, I don't really care to investigate a conspiracy. The motivation to stay alive is a much more universal one than the motivation to investigate a corporation's involvement in a relative's death.
I'm worried that Subnautica 2 is going to focus heavily on multiplayer, which is not something I ever wanted out of Subnautica personally. I hope they can balance singleplayer with multiplayer, but I've not got much confidence left there. I'll check it out when it gets out of EA.
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Comment on Starbreeze Studios admits it made poor design decisions on Payday 3, but has plans to turn the heist FPS around in ~games
zini Link ParentIt's well worth considering that if my recollection is correct, almost nobody from the original PD:TH team is working on Payday anymore. I believe a lot of them are at a new studio working on a...It's well worth considering that if my recollection is correct, almost nobody from the original PD:TH team is working on Payday anymore. I believe a lot of them are at a new studio working on a cyberpunk heist game called Den of Wolves.
For all my opinion is worth, Payday 3 is a good time but a short time. It's not got anywhere near as much content as 2 and it's not the same kind of infinitely replayable dopamine factory as the first game. It's not free on gamepass anymore, but if you can get it on sale it's worth it I'd say.
Okay, good video, but like. He didn't have to eat all that baby food, or drink from a bottle. Did he?