zod000's recent activity
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Comment on eBooks cost too much in ~books
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
zod000 LinkMy name came from having the nick/handle "zod" on the IRC back in the late 80s/early 90s. There was no way to reserve your nick handle back then, so as more people started joining the chat...My name came from having the nick/handle "zod" on the IRC back in the late 80s/early 90s. There was no way to reserve your nick handle back then, so as more people started joining the chat networks sometimes people would use your name and it caused mass confusion. There was a chaotic year and a half period where I ended up hosting a bot on a server to hold my name in place, but there were still a couple of people and their friends harassing, and hacking me (firewalls weren't really a thing at the time for PCs and the Windows network stack was fragile as hell) to try to force me offline to get my somehow coveted name. I eventually decided to change my name to zod000 signifying that I was the original and let the rest of the crazies fight over it.
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Comment on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake video game review in ~games
zod000 LinkI just got my copy delivered for the PS5, super excited to play it. Within the last two weeks I also received two other long anticipated jRPGs though, so it will have to wait for me to play it sadly.I just got my copy delivered for the PS5, super excited to play it. Within the last two weeks I also received two other long anticipated jRPGs though, so it will have to wait for me to play it sadly.
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Comment on Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake video game review in ~games
zod000 Link ParentThe story, and game as a whole, hold up better than any other NES RPG IMO. If you play it now for the first time, I can see a person not being impressed by the systems because of how similarly...The story, and game as a whole, hold up better than any other NES RPG IMO. If you play it now for the first time, I can see a person not being impressed by the systems because of how similarly modern DQ games play, but this is the game that started so much of how it and much of the jRPG genre works.
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Comment on Solar + power bank for household appliances in apartment - can I reduce my electricity bill? in ~life.home_improvement
zod000 LinkI own the Ecoflow river 2 pro that you mention and it is great for my purposes (keeping essential appliances going during extended power outages), but I don't see how you can realistically achieve...I own the Ecoflow river 2 pro that you mention and it is great for my purposes (keeping essential appliances going during extended power outages), but I don't see how you can realistically achieve your goals here without at least a balcony with good direct sunlight. As others have mentioned, the power generation from the solar panels listed is in ideal conditions. Usually you're getting about 60-70% of the stated power generation just due to normal weather conditions even when it isn't cloudy/rainy.
I have thought seriously about your exact scenario a bunch, and I own a home and can leave the panels outside, but it won't ever be as viable as on roof panels like I had in my previous home.
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Comment on My Leopold FC900R broke - Recommendation request in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentI answered this in another comment, but I agree the Keychron line of keyboards varies in quality depending on the model. The board I got was not in the Q line (K8 hotswappable) and I went in...I answered this in another comment, but I agree the Keychron line of keyboards varies in quality depending on the model. The board I got was not in the Q line (K8 hotswappable) and I went in knowing it wouldn't be as nice as my higher end keyboards. I have heard the Q series is better built, but I haven't had my hands on them personally and can only judge based on the one I had. I tend to accumulate lots of keyboards and then gift them as I get others, so it is now in my brother's house and he hasn't made any complaints.
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Comment on My Leopold FC900R broke - Recommendation request in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentThis is a very good point, and is also something I've found in Ducky keyboards which is why I don't usually recommend the brand as a whole rather than specific models. I had a Keychron K8 that I...This is a very good point, and is also something I've found in Ducky keyboards which is why I don't usually recommend the brand as a whole rather than specific models. I had a Keychron K8 that I bought when I was traveling and needed a "real" keyboard. It's... fine. I just have much nicer keyboards and it was very clear that is felt less substantial and lower in quality than most of my others. It was fine for the price though and it's good for the price if you can get a sale. I didn't have any need or desire for the wireless/BT connectivity though and Keychron seems to include it in nearly every model I was looking at.
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Comment on My Leopold FC900R broke - Recommendation request in ~tech
zod000 LinkThere have been a lot of good options mentioned in here, like Keychon if you are looking for a cheaper option, but I personally think that if you're used to a Leopold, you're going to find them...There have been a lot of good options mentioned in here, like Keychon if you are looking for a cheaper option, but I personally think that if you're used to a Leopold, you're going to find them feeling a bit cheap/flimsy.
I actually think a newer Leopold may still be a preferred option or something similar like a Filco Majestouch. I also have had good experiences with keyboards from iKBC, Mistel, Varmilo.
The stock caps on Leopold are some of the best stock key caps in the industry IMO, but it is no longer hard to find keyboards that come with thick, decent PBT key caps like it used to be. So if you find the right keyboard, don't let the key caps necessarily put you off.
You sound a lot like a friend of mine (coincidentally he uses a full size Leopold right now), so I won't try to sell you on all the exotic switch and key caps options unless you ask for them. It sounds like you prefer, or at least are perfectly OK with, key caps that are Cherry profile or close to it (Leopold has their own profile that is extremely similar). I imagine anything that uses Cherry profile, OEM profile, or something close will be fine.
Not affiliated with them, but I find mechanicalkeyboards.com always keeps a good selection of full sized mechanical keyboards in stock from good brands. I've ordered from them before and haven't had any issues like I have with some of the smaller more boutique vendors. Amazon or like also also good for getting things quickly.
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Comment on Valorant is winning the war against PC gaming cheaters in ~games
zod000 LinkI have to admit that I am blown away by the commenters in here in favor of kernel level anti-cheat systems. They are incredibly invasive and flat out lazy and any company that adopts them loses me...I have to admit that I am blown away by the commenters in here in favor of kernel level anti-cheat systems. They are incredibly invasive and flat out lazy and any company that adopts them loses me as a customer. I suspect that the big reason they push this is that server-side cheat detection requires that their servers do the work instead of the client PCs (reminds me of all the JS front-end heavy web apps). Hardware based cheats are becoming more prominent and these companies are going to be SOL because the punted on securing their side of the client/server paradigm.
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Comment on Best solution to extract PDF data? in ~comp
zod000 Link ParentYou can absolutely create easy to parse PDFs if you are just creating them from a text starting point and use any number of common libraries. The issue with PDFs is that they can be all over the...You can absolutely create easy to parse PDFs if you are just creating them from a text starting point and use any number of common libraries. The issue with PDFs is that they can be all over the place in content and functionality. Adobe kind of went nuts with all the baked in tech in PDFs. Like, is it necessary to be able to render 3D models in a document? I wouldn't have said yes to that, but Adobe sure thought so. Using OCR lets you sidestep most of this wackiness, but OCR isn't perfect and probably never will be.
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Comment on Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users in ~tech
zod000 LinkI imagine the profitability is mostly from them selling their data for AI, not because they are somehow doing better at the core of the site activities. I deleted my user and left completely after...I imagine the profitability is mostly from them selling their data for AI, not because they are somehow doing better at the core of the site activities. I deleted my user and left completely after API clusterfuck, but can totally see people staying for niche subreddits that have nowhere else viable to go as none of the reddit alternatives have the critical mass to support them.
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Comment on Thinking on storage in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentIIRC, there wasn't an 80MHz version of the Pentium, but there was definitely a 75MHz and 90MHz. That's cool that your school got decent PCs for students and faculty to use at least, even if they...IIRC, there wasn't an 80MHz version of the Pentium, but there was definitely a 75MHz and 90MHz. That's cool that your school got decent PCs for students and faculty to use at least, even if they weren't attainable at home.
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Comment on Thinking on storage in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentThat's really interesting, especially the "PC - TV" unit, I'd love to see one of those. Ironically, we didn't have anything approaching state of the art in our schools I attended most of the time....That's really interesting, especially the "PC - TV" unit, I'd love to see one of those.
Ironically, we didn't have anything approaching state of the art in our schools I attended most of the time. Our elementary schools were stuck on Apple IIe system that were 10 years old and our high school got a grant from IBM in 1981 for a classroom of IBM 8086 desktops... we were still using them in 1996. :) I ended up helping the teacher put together a few 486 PCs for the advanced programming classes that we were able to source for nearly free because they were being tossed out by businesses for being too outdated.
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Comment on Thinking on storage in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentThanks for the perspective! I did see that the domain was registered in Poland, but based on what my few Polish friends have spoken about, I didn't think it was that far off. It could be that they...Thanks for the perspective! I did see that the domain was registered in Poland, but based on what my few Polish friends have spoken about, I didn't think it was that far off. It could be that they were more privileged than I suspected or they simply avoided talking about those subjects.
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Comment on Thinking on storage in ~tech
zod000 LinkSomething about this blog is weird and maybe this guy has his dates wrong. No one was buying a 386 in 1996 unless it was from a garage sale or it was for a legacy use in business that had...Something about this blog is weird and maybe this guy has his dates wrong. No one was buying a 386 in 1996 unless it was from a garage sale or it was for a legacy use in business that had preexisting software that needed. The 386 was released a decade before that and the Pentium was already three years old by that time. The last PC I saw that a HDD wasn't standard in was the original IBM PC and even then a 10MB or 20MB HDD was common. My family bought a PC with a 386 in 1988 with an 80MB drive, which was on the small side, and nothing on the market at the time didn't include a hard drive. This isn't to say there is anything wrong with a family's first PC being second hand or weirdly behind the times, but his point of "From a 1.44MB floppy to 60GB HDDs in ten years." is incredibly skewed.
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Comment on We spoke with the last person standing in the floppy disk business in ~tech
zod000 Link ParentThey did expand their team I believe, but they didn't go on some sort of crazy hiring spree and while I'd love to have more content for the game sooner, they are doing just fine.They did expand their team I believe, but they didn't go on some sort of crazy hiring spree and while I'd love to have more content for the game sooner, they are doing just fine.
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Comment on The University of Michigan doubled down on D.E.I. What went wrong? in ~society
zod000 Link ParentWhile your experiences and explanation of apartheid South Africa are interesting, I do not think that is an accurate comparison and serves to paint D.E.I. add baggage that they do not share. I do;...While your experiences and explanation of apartheid South Africa are interesting, I do not think that is an accurate comparison and serves to paint D.E.I. add baggage that they do not share.
I do; however, really like this statement and I think it is the main point you were trying to make in your comparison:
Both of these initiatives fall flat because they claim to but can't possibly meet peoples most fundamental expectation. Enforcing what is fair.
I love this, though I think there is more to D.E.I. and it isn't just trying to enforce what is fair, at least for many organizations, especially corporations.
The biggest selling points of D.E.I. to the leadership most companies was the notion, supposedly shown in many studies, that organizations with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds tend to be more successful in the long term. The "fairness" that comes from this is good for publicity and if it materialized, good for the people. I just don't think that it matters much to most people "at the top". What they care about is success, usually in the form of wealth. I strongly believe this is why most D.E.I. efforts feel superficial, because the "good" part likely IS superficial in many examples.
Even if many of these organizations don't really believe in the goals of diversity, equality, and inclusiveness, as long as they get their success it's fine. They get the goodwill and good publicity, at least from the more left-leaning public, as a bonus.
Here's the problems with that as I see it:
What does "more successful" look like?
How long is long term?
Can you force this diversity and get the same result?I think that reason we're seeing so many companies drop it was that their answers to #1 and #2 did not align at all with reality, again assuming the premise of the studies is correct. Most companies tried this out for a few years (their answer to #1) and didn't see profits or equivalent key metric go up (the only answer to #2 that most organizations care about).
Now much of what I just wrote above I do not think applies to UoM. I think their leadership actually does want to help and that their middling success, at best, is probably a combination of being heavy handed and quite simply that they don't know the right way to do it and are still trying to figure it out. I don't know that anyone has truly figured out how to achieve real "fairness", but I applaud them for continuing to try. On the other hand, I know that when I was a student, I was idealistic and strong willed and I would have resented the stifling nature of parts of the program. I don't know the answer, but I wish them luck in making it better.
I didn't touch on the states that are engaging in the anti-D.E.I. rhetoric as I believe that is typical racist politics. They made D.E.I. their new boogeyman since they wore out their previous CRT strawman.
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Comment on Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you stream your own games in November in ~games
zod000 Link ParentI get it now and I agree with your point. It IS cool tech, but my skepticism on the business case remains for now. Maybe Microsoft is simply playing the long game on this and is hoping that the...I get it now and I agree with your point. It IS cool tech, but my skepticism on the business case remains for now. Maybe Microsoft is simply playing the long game on this and is hoping that the future is simply that eventually everyone will have no choice but to hop on the "as a service" train.
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Comment on Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you stream your own games in November in ~games
zod000 Link ParentI am with you there, I have streamed games more as a novelty than anything. I was a pretty early adopter since I thought it was cool tech. I tried it early on when Valve first released their early...I am with you there, I have streamed games more as a novelty than anything. I was a pretty early adopter since I thought it was cool tech. I tried it early on when Valve first released their early Steam Linux distro many years ago where you could stream games from your Windows PC, I tried out Geforce Now, and I bought a Steam Link when they were 90% off, and I even tried a few internet streaming services that everyone touted as "so smooth you can't tell it is streamed". In the end, I only found it tolerable when it was all local and over ethernet. Even local wifi had too much latency for me unless I was playing a turn based game, and anything streamed over the internet was maddening.
I think the only people playing games this way are in some Venn diagram intersection of people that are just used to low fps/high input lag, really like mobile/handheld gaming, and have no problem with the Netflix/Spotify/Gamepass "You will own nothing and like it" lifestyle.
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Comment on How do you listen to your favorite obscure music that never made it onto any streaming platforms? in ~music
zod000 LinkI listen to most of my music from my PC, and plenty of the bands I like either have albums not on Spotify or equivalent or are entirely not on there. I prefer having my own music that I ripped...I listen to most of my music from my PC, and plenty of the bands I like either have albums not on Spotify or equivalent or are entirely not on there. I prefer having my own music that I ripped myself and have the CDs or vinyls as a backup. When I want them on the go or in the car, I just transfer them across the network from my NAS.
I've noticed the frequent higher than acceptable ebook pricing as well and it is why I rarely buy them. Physical books tend to get discounted as they age and you can get them used for very low prices where ebooks rarely get discounted and there is no (legal) concept of gifting or selling used ebooks. It just makes them a poor buy most of the time despite being my slightly preferred way to read. I have had much poorer luck borrowing ebooks that I want to read from the library versus physical books as well.