zoroa's recent activity
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Comment on OpenAI to acquire Astral (creators of ruff, uv, and ty) in ~tech
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OpenAI to acquire Astral (creators of ruff, uv, and ty)
22 votes -
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
zoroa Link ParentI don't know that I really have any complaints, granted I also haven't used it for particularly long. My use case is as basic as it can be: Only need to support one user Don't need any...I don't know that I really have any complaints, granted I also haven't used it for particularly long. My use case is as basic as it can be:
- Only need to support one user
- Don't need any collaborative features
- Don't have any fancy auth requirements (yet)
Is there anything that DAVx5 + Radicale doesn't do that would warrant you rebuilding from the ground up?
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
zoroa Link ParentI'm not actually sure that Radicale supports vCard 4.0 yet. Radicale depends on vobject for their vCard implementation. vobject only supports vCard 3.0. The radicale dev made a PR with a vCard 4.0...It's especially neat that they handle the more modern v3+v4 features which even Google with the stock contacts app seem to struggle with.
I'm not actually sure that Radicale supports vCard 4.0 yet.
Radicale depends on
vobjectfor their vCard implementation.vobjectonly supports vCard 3.0. The radicale dev made a PR with a vCard 4.0 implementation, but the maintainer hasn't followed up in a couple months. -
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
zoroa LinkMy last phone died suddenly and I had no backups (💀). In the spirit of learning from mistakes, one of my goals with my new phone is to treat it as a thin client as much as possible Contact Sync...My last phone died suddenly and I had no backups (💀).
In the spirit of learning from mistakes, one of my goals with my new phone is to treat it as a thin client as much as possible
Contact Sync
Saw a link for DAVx5, which taught me that Android has pretty robust support for syncing your contacts (and calendars) to non-Google accounts. You can use the first party apps (Calendar, Contact, etc...) as frontends to whatever service actually stores your address book and calendar, and use DAVx5 to handle the synchronization.
Radicale was the first self hosted option I found, took 20 minutes to get set up, and has done everything I needed so far. I've never regularly used a calendar before (partially because I didn't want to bother with Google), so Radicale's calendar and task support has been a nice plus.
I feel like I'm now just stepping into the 21st century, since the part that's been bringing me the most joy is that I have my contacts and calendar syncing between my phone and computer :D
Making my NAS available in Android's native file picker (DocumentProvider)
I've wanted a more convenient way to have apps on my phone use files from my NAS directly, instead of having to manually synchronize a copy of that file on my phone.
I was messing around my with my file manager of choice (MiXplorer), and ended up accidentally figuring out how to do this. Unintuitively, you need to select the folder and add it to the app's homepage. For whatever reason, this also adds the folder to the system file picker that opens up whenever an app requests to open a file.
Which is huge, since it opens up apps to be able to load and write to files from whatever storage backends MiXplorer supports (i.e. a lot). It also has the added benefit that any "important files" aren't stored on device in the event I lose it.
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Comment on Theo Parrish - Falling Up [Carl Craig Remix] (2005) in ~music
zoroa LinkThis is my sign to listen to more Theo Parrish. I've had his song with some Hiatus Kaiyote members on repeat, but I've never explored the rest of his discography.This is my sign to listen to more Theo Parrish.
I've had his song with some Hiatus Kaiyote members on repeat, but I've never explored the rest of his discography.
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Chainsaw Man Part 2 will be ending with Chapter 232 on March 25th
15 votes -
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
zoroa Link ParentI'm jealous. Trails the Third is next on my list of trails games to play, but I keep fruitlessly waiting for Nihon Falcom to decide it's okay to discount their nearly 20 year old game more than 25%.I finished Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero last week. Took over 100hrs, but still took me less than a year, which is very good for me and JRPGs.
I'm jealous. Trails the Third is next on my list of trails games to play, but I keep fruitlessly waiting for Nihon Falcom to decide it's okay to discount their nearly 20 year old game more than 25%.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
zoroa Link ParentA wave of nostalgia hit me when I saw this uses Gen 2 art. I forgot how much I missed that.In particular I’ve been playing Pokemon Emerald Seaglass, a ROM hack for Emerald which visually overhauls the game - it looks great! - and adds various QoL improvements, notably a party-wide EXP share available early and running shoes available immediately with an auto-run toggle.
A wave of nostalgia hit me when I saw this uses Gen 2 art. I forgot how much I missed that.
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Comment on Calvin Jones' retirement announcement in ~transport
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Comment on Good News Everyone! - your semi regular good news thread in ~talk
zoroa LinkIf "made me laugh" counts as "brings us joy" Girl Scouts highly unimpressed after New Jersey troop teams up with local cannabis dispensary to sell cookies This sounded like a smart partnership,...If "made me laugh" counts as "brings us joy"
Senior leaders at the Girl Scouts are reportedly displeased that a New Jersey troop teamed up with a local weed dispensary to sell their beloved cookies.
Set up near Daylite Dispensary in Mount Laurel last month, the troop’s booth offered the full line-up of treats. Dispensary owner Steve Cassidy said the partnership was a massive success and drew people both to the booth and the cannabis shop.
However, Cassidy said he had spoken to representatives from the organization about the incident, which had been intended as a positive venture, but may have landed the troop in hot water.
This sounded like a smart partnership, hopefully the troop doesn't get into too much trouble over it.
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Comment on Arc Raiders - Discord SDK data exposure in ~games
zoroa LinkA security researcher identified multiple security issues in Arc Raiders relating to its Discord integration Private DM Conversation Content Logged to Disk Discord Bearer Token Stored in Plaintext...A security researcher identified multiple security issues in Arc Raiders relating to its Discord integration
- Private DM Conversation Content Logged to Disk
- Discord Bearer Token Stored in Plaintext Log File
- Entire Friends List Presence Data Logged
Per this article: https://www.eurogamer.net/arc-raiders-discord-messages-security-problem-fix-incoming
- Embark Studios had no bounty program to report this to.
- A fix has not been released, but is in progress
I find it especially crazy that it's possible for games to intercept private messages. It's another hit that's chiseling away my confidence in the platform.
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Arc Raiders - Discord SDK data exposure
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Comment on LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy in ~tech
zoroa Link ParentAppreciate the link! Not sure why, but the paper made infinitely more sense to me than the article. This kinda feels like a "Quantum computing will break encryption" moment for internet culture....Appreciate the link! Not sure why, but the paper made infinitely more sense to me than the article.
This kinda feels like a "Quantum computing will break encryption" moment for internet culture. Like the abstract notes, no one thought de-anonymization was impossible just time consuming. And now that suddenly isn't true.
The comparison to breaking encryption holds when you start thinking about the fallout:
- There's a large corpus of data that can be processed retroactively now (the entire internet)
- Fixing this would be a herculean effort (comprehensive privacy laws?!)
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Comment on What are you no longer a fan of? in ~talk
zoroa Link ParentIt blew my mind when the new Pokemon trailer came out, and I realized that the last time I'd been excited for a game in the series was back in 2011. I echo that. I have a hard time imagining...It blew my mind when the new Pokemon trailer came out, and I realized that the last time I'd been excited for a game in the series was back in 2011.
I also am not a fan of Nintendo anymore for a variety of reasons
I echo that. I have a hard time imagining myself buying back into Nintendo's ecosystem.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
zoroa (edited )Linkcontext: I wrote a draft of this back in November 2024, and recently found it again after finishing Metaphor Refantazio. Re-reading this draft was helpful when I was reflecting on my Metaphor...context: I wrote a draft of this back in November 2024, and recently found it again after finishing Metaphor Refantazio. Re-reading this draft was helpful when I was reflecting on my Metaphor playthrough, so I figured I'd finish it.
Octopath Traveler II
I've been playing Octopath Traveler II since it got added to GamePass back in June (2024), and finished it about a month ago (2024-10-28). It's essentially a carbon copy of the first game, with better execution: gorgeous graphics, a fun battle system, and NPCs that are fun to mess with, packaged in a game that was surprisingly amenable to being played at my own pace.
What sticks with me most about this game was how well it fits into the life of an adult. I usually carve out large chunks of time to binge games, but Octopath Traveler II was the first singleplayer game that I had to play in shorter sessions. I'd sit down once a week and play 1-3 hours. Eventually, I stopped playing entirely for 2-3 months, and then finally finished the game in a couple longer sessions. Never once did I end a gaming session feeling dissatisfied with the time I spent in the game. And I was pleasantly surprised that even after an extended break, I didn't feel like I'd lost the plot. Both were a product of the structure of Octopath Traveler II's story: you follow up to eight characters each on their journeys across the continent. Each one of those stories is broken up in chapters that take about an hour each, that all play the same way: you arrive in a new location, interact with a couple NPCs, enter whatever dungeon they point you to, beat a boss, rinse-and-repeat. These aren't stories that would've won "Best Narrative" at The Game Awards; each is straightforward enough that you have a pretty good idea how it'll end right from the start. If that sounds formulaic, it's because it is! In fact, every single dungeon in the game is basically a straight path to the boss with a couple short branches for chests. In isolation, these can sound like big negatives. But together, they made for an experience I enjoyed. I knew exactly what to expect, having played the original Octopath Traveler, which let me just focus on the game's strengths. I was in a headspace for stories that were just fine, since it let me engage with them fully regardless of how much or how little attention I had for their cutscenes in the moment. The uniformity of the dungeons didn't get old, because they're all gorgeous and vehicles to get you into the fun combat. The game's consistency across its narrative and environment design meant I could put the game down for weeks and months and always be able to pick it back up.
The most notable difference between the first Octopath Traveller and the sequel is party interactions. In the original Octopath Traveller, party members never interact outside short, throwaway moments. The series only requires you to recruit one character, so you can finish the game only having seen one storyline. This structure deeply limits how character's relationships can develop, since those relationships wouldn't make sense for all party combinations. Octopath Traveler II tries to address this with special paired character chapters and by more deliberately tying the 8 stories together towards the ending. While I really did enjoy these additions, especially the end of the game where the full party interacts, I was left wanting an Octopath Traveller game that just commits to telling one cohesive story instead of eight independent ones..
Outside of some weaknesses with the storytelling, the game is consistently solid. I have a soft spot for pixel art, and adore the series' "HD-2D" graphics. The "discover weaknesses -> break opponent -> deal massive damage" loop in combat hasn't gotten old after my 200+ hours with the series. It was fun constantly experimenting with different builds, and then going online later to see that I wasn't even scratching the surface of what was possible. Interacting with NPCs was an unexpected highlight for me in the original, and remains so in Octopath Traveller II. Each party member has a special action that let you learn about NPCs, receive items, recruit them, or start fights. These interactions are never anything spectacular, but were an opportunity for the game to accentuate small joys with a sense of discovery: stumbling on a surprising backstory, finding an incredible item, or laughing at the absurdity of some of the fights you can start.
With a year and a half's hindsight, I'm surprised how positive I still feel about this game. The game doesn't really try to do anything novel, but is consistent enough across the board that it elevated the entnire experience. I'm really interested to try Octopath Traveler 0, which does away with the "eight stories" gimmick.
edit: highsight -> hindsight,
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Comment on Nobody is talking about Dance Dance Revolution's comeback across America in ~games
zoroa LinkI've enjoyed the mini-docs that the host has been putting out over the past couple years (like this one of him checking in on the band ANAMANAGUCHI). Thought this was worth sharing because it was...Frank [Howley] explores the rise of Dance Dance Revolution across America and the various subcultures that exist across the modern DDR world.
I've enjoyed the mini-docs that the host has been putting out over the past couple years (like this one of him checking in on the band ANAMANAGUCHI). Thought this was worth sharing because it was a cool sampling of a game and community that I haven't thought of in a really long time, and the host makes a decent pitch for why now might be a good time to get into DDR.
Bonus: Discovered DDR Freestyling a couple weeks before this video came out, and it's so sick. Smidget freestyling to "Don't Bother Me" back in 2005 (or if you'd like more pixels, this version that synchronizes multiple of his performances through the years)
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Nobody is talking about Dance Dance Revolution's comeback across America
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Comment on An AI agent published a hit piece on me in ~tech
zoroa Link ParentThey've since published a retraction: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/02/after-a-routine-code-rejection-an-ai-agent-published-a-hit-piece-on-someone-by-name/ And a discussion on their retraction:...They've since published a retraction: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/02/after-a-routine-code-rejection-an-ai-agent-published-a-hit-piece-on-someone-by-name/
And a discussion on their retraction: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2026/02/editors-note-retraction-of-article-containing-fabricated-quotations/
Astral's announcement: https://astral.sh/blog/openai
I've really enjoyed Astral's output over the last few years.
ruff,uv, and especiallytyhave been transformative for my experience writing Python. Astral hit the scene as my frustration was growing towards Python's ecosystem, where the best developer tooling were used as moats for major corporations (pylance + debugpy in vscode, pycharm for Jetbrains, etc...). Astral seemed to offer really compelling alternatives, that ran really fast. And it was a bonus to recognize so many names from the rust and python blogosphere in the contributor list for those project.I guess I was naive in my hope that Astral would be successful enough with hosted offerings (e.g. pyx) to avoid needing to get acquired.
I don't know that I'd go as far as to say that they've lost my trust. But I am disappointed that their priorities will undoubtedly shift away from those of the developer community towards those of OpenAI. Those two aren't guaranteed to be aligned, so it feels like we're sliding back to a world where the best python tooling is owned by major corporations.