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Steam users have spent $19 billion on games they’ve never played
  • For sure. Easily half (likely more) of my unplayed games are Bundle games from a bundle I got primarily for something else. There's a few gems I'm sure.

    There are a few games I bought on sale to play later as well (I'll get to you!) but the other glaring flaw I see is a selection bias. The people who use this service or similar services are going to be the heavier Steam users with collections in the hundreds.

    So heavier users, with lots of bundle games and sales. I'd divide that total by 10 at least

  • MMOs 'don't give people the tools to build community anymore,' says EverQuest 2 creative director
  • Probably why I actually leave multiplayer on in No Man's Sky. There's people around, stuff happens, but there is no need to engage if you aren't in the mood.

    Plus, if you are feeling sociable and want to, you can go to the anomaly and team up for bonuses.

  • Why does nobody here ever recommend Fedora to noobs?
  • This has been my experience. I used Fedora for a while years ago, but rpm was already second fiddle to deb. Plus, I was already selling into my "old man distro" so I kept ending up with some Ubuntu version.

    I did recently Manjaro and Linux Mint, but ended up with Ubuntu again, although this time Kubuntu, Ubuntu with KDE!

    No shade from me though for going with Red Hat.

  • Internet Archive forced to remove 500,000 books after publishers’ court win
  • During the pandemic, Internet Archive very publicly announced they were relaxing their one physical copy per digitally loaned copy.

    I think of they had maintained their 1:1 CDL method, the publishers would still be uncomfortable to be the one to sue first, especially since there was a decent argument and IA would have been pretty sympathetic.

    Their pandemic policy was effectively not substantially different from a shadow library., and just set up a slam dunk case for the publishers.

  • Internet Archive forced to remove 500,000 books after publishers’ court win
  • I think if they hadn't abandoned the CDL modern during the pandemic, they could have kept it going indefinitely. Even if it wasn't likely fair use, it might have been. More than that, it would have been bad press for the publisher to make the first move.

    Abandoning CDL during the pandemic was just waving a red flag and giving the publishers a slam dunk case.

    I think if IA had just held the line with CDL, they could have over time just effectively established a precedent. Lost opportunity.

  • 580,000 glass coffee mugs recalled because they can break when filled with hot liquid
  • I got a Betty Crocker borosilicate glass casserole baking pan at the Dollar store. I've used it several times, and it hasn't broken. If a Dollar store can sell glass cookware at a profit, how many fractional pennies did they save by making these glass mugs?

  • Why don't we use a base-12 number system?
  • Some might say it's giving finger counting too much thought, others might say it's a tangent too serious for dad jokes, I say… the efficiency gains seem to come from a change in technique for how a count is stored.

    Base-10 finger counting technique just accumulates, the number of fingers held up is the count.

    Base-12 uses a pointer (your thumb) to point to a value (a knuckles or finger segment).

    Base-2 uses a finger up or down to show a place value as one or zero.

    You could tattoo numbers on your forearm so all five fingers from your other hand could point to a value for up to five more places to point.

  • Why don't we use a base-12 number system?
  • Someone else who knows how to finger count in base-12 and binary!

    I think the binary one I learned as a joke, show someone they are number four.

    The base-12 was an explanation for how the ancient Sumerians finger counted, using the other hand's fingers for groups of 12, leading to base 60 (5×12).

    I have the same problem with binary counting practically though, and using a modified Sumerian system (both hands to 12) gets you to 144, which is plenty for anything where finger counting is actually useful.

    One other thing, I use the finger bones rather than the knuckles, little easier but same idea.

  • PC Gaming Is Growing Faster Than Consoles, Data Shows
  • Apples to apples, I wonder how much that holds true…

    When a console launches, buying off the shelf equivalent parts is probably a fair bit more expensive. After a couple of years though, the latest and greatest whatever is at least two years old.

    I'm sure console manufacturers flatten out these prices by making long term contracts, but still a 4 year old machine is still 4 years old. AMD has released new chipsets since that are in turn themselves coming up on 2 years old.

    Granted, console games are optimized for a specific platform, but that will likely be very game specific.

  • China is after Canada’s pulp and paper industry – it’s a national-security issue -- (Opinion)
  • Other than newsprint (and maybe bond) almost all pulp & paper products seem to be only increasing in demand. It's just that new mills are being built overseas.

    In BC though, between beetle kill and forest fires, fibre has gotten a little tight, although there is still enough to export whole logs.

    Depressingly, Canfor just idled one of their Prince George mills (Northwood IIRC), joining a long list of mills that have closed over the last few years.

    Curiously, the nitrocellulose they talk about in the article comes from the"Red Liquor" process (IIRC), and the last mill in BC that used that process was Port Alice which closed a few years ago as will. And IIRC the mill was sold to a Chinese company as well. Skeena Cellulose in Prince Rupert was originally built in WW2 just for gun cotton manufacture, although all their Red Liquor digesters were idled years before they shut down (around 20-25 years ago IIRC).

  • Refurbished Steam Deck Back in Stock for Extremely Cheap - SteamDeckHQ Article
  • Hard disagree. Sure, I might be okay with doing that, you might be okay with that, but the success of the Steam Deck hinges on its accessibility and ease of use.

    The people on a Steam Deck Lemmy community are not representative of most users, and I recommend the Steam Deck frequently to others based on its ease of use, not it's moddability.

    I will concede that Steam's support of parts and upgrades also has long term positive implications, even for people that just buy it to play games. Even if the average user never cracks it open to swap out the hard drive, they probably know someone who could. A broken screen for a Steam Deck is a repair, not a replacement for example.

  • [Discussion] What kind of protective and carrying cases do you use for your Deck?
  • I've been using the JSAUX ModCase since the hub variant was first offered. A ModCase with a hub is pretty much a portable dock.

    Coming up on two years of heavy use and I do have some observations on the ModCase.

    #The kickstand is not very heavy, but I find I usually have it off and in my briefcase when I am playing on the Steam Deck. After it was broken in a bit, it could flop around a bit, and although not particularly large it is fairly heavy duty and having it off saves a bit of weight and avoids the flopping around.

    #The kickstand is fairly heavy duty, but there are two small hinge pins that the foot levers out on. One of the hinge pins broke on mine a few months ago, and the other is wearing fast. I made a quick repair with a bit of wire (actually from a paper clip) but the size isn't quite right, so the hinge is still pretty loose. This is a simple device, and is a wear part. I could order a whole replacement ModCase, but it would be nice if you could just get a replacement kickstand. Likewise, although it hasn't happened to me (yet), when using the ModCase, you sometimes put the removable cover down somewhere ill advised. I would assume that the cover is lost or broken more often than other parts of the ModCase. The ability to buy just a replacement cover would also be good. The clippable band has been pretty useful for just attaching any random device to the ModCase, more bands would also be a useful purchase. The only extra part is adhesive pads, which I guess is a partial replacement for the attachable band.

    #The hub in the hub/ultimate version is a little bulky, and not really much more useful than the cheap one I first got off of Amazon. It works mostly fine (external video cuts out briefly now and then), but the cheap Amazon one is around half the size, and the external video doesn't cut out.

    Overall, I highly recommend the ModCase.

  • My Son is Enjoying His New (to Him) 3DS

    No eShop? No problem! We've had a bit of luck with used games not at "collectable" prices, but we've discovered hShop and CFW.

    Still have a R4 card as well, and it's great that he is able to experience some classic games on the original hardware.

    With all the news around Yuzu (and Citra) recently, it just reminds me about the importance of "Piracy" in game preservation.

    Thanks to this community for existing, and the extensive FAQs!

    0
    Planet/Euclid: Looks Like A Junimo Hut (SDV)

    cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/12911649

    > When I first found it, it did also give an entered building message, but I haven't managed to test it in a storm. I'm currently distracted in my Permadeath run looking for more of these ... structures?

    3
    Planet/Euclid: Looks Like A Junimo Hut (SDV)

    When I first found it, it did also give an entered building message, but I haven't managed to test it in a storm. I'm currently distracted in my Permadeath run looking for more of these ... structures?

    0
    Voyagers, How's it Going?

    Down to my last task ("Hot Blooded"). Even though there wasn't much plot in Voyagers, this was one of my favourite Expeditions the first time around. I remember the first time around, I got stuck on finding a suitably hostile world, but I think in this Redux, the "Eternal Garden" (paradise world), "Unwelcome" (hostile > 84%), "Corrosive Blood" (creature with low blood pH), and lots of others were completed in the starting system.

    I figure I just need to go back to the hotter worlds and start scanning critters I missed the first pass, and I'll be done.

    One thing I liked about the first run of Voyagers is that there was almost two months to do it the first time around. It was billed as "relaxing" and it was. I nearly took the full two months, but I swapped back and forth between my main save and Voyagers, until I finished with a week to go (trouble with "Unwelcome" as I recall). This Redux is 10 days, which is longer than the other Redux ones, and they seem to have strategically placed the Rendezvous to help complete, but a little bit longer would have been a little bit nicer. Or at least more relaxed.

    2
    Cartographers, How's It Going?

    I started my save within an hour of the expedition going live. And spawned in a storm, with multiple hostile critters. I died twice in two minutes, deleted the cursed save, and tried again. Did better, but fell into a cave system killing critters (with a mining laser), and got lost… before I could build the Terrain Manipulator. After 20 minutes, I deleted the cursed save, and started again. Third time's the charm! Much better start, even grabbed some Storm Crystals for later right at the start.

    Needed to get some work done, but I've gotten a couple of hours in since yesterday, steady progress, having fun stumbling around, but I can see I'm going to get stuck looking for Crystal Sulphide. I don't think I'm anywhere near the ocean, although I see 3 underwater creatures on this world so there must be some somewhere. I've got the Minotaur built, but that doesn't seem the best way to search for ocean, it's a little slow. If only I had a spaceship… oh wait, that's what the Crystal Sulphide's for.

    Also, got killed again, by one of those evil teddy bears that jumped me while I was killing a couple of the crystal spider dudes. Was close to my base, but still! Embarrassing.

    10
    Loosing Standing, Are My Starter Freighter Crew Pirates At Heart?

    Just started the new community expedition, so first real taste of the Echoes update. I think my starter freighter crew are engaging in some light piracy on the side. My standing with the main system race keeps ticking down every so often, and I gain rep with the Outlaws faction. At least if they are going to go rogue and loot merchants, they can cut me in for a piece of the action!

    Didn't see anything in the patch notes.

    ---

    From @Sorien@meow.social :

    > @Kaymorak @Grimpen It’s a bug. Whenever another player engages civilian freighters, they gain standing with outlaws, and lose it with the local race running the system… And the bug makes ANY player in that system gain and lose. :P > > It’ll hopefully be fixed in the upcoming patch, which is in test.

    I've stopped this happening so much by parking my freighter in quieter systems. Without a steady supply of salvaged frigate modules I haven't upgraded my freighter much anyways. If your freighter isn't somewhere where other players and you are at the same time, it should hoist the Jolly Roger.

    0
    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)GR
    Grimpen @lemmy.ca
    Posts 7
    Comments 323