There was a Mythbusters episode a while back that tested how many helium balloons it would take to lift a small kid, which this reminded me of.
I'm not saying it wasn't safe, it's just perhaps not quite as safe as some of the other ones. Some of them are built so that they don't fall over at all.
My first job was in a grocery store deli, and let me tell you that is the worst job to have if your mental health sucks. My last few months there were spent hoping to get hit by a bus so I didn't have to go to work. My last two weeks were the worst two weeks of my life. The customers I dealt with were some of the meanest people I've ever interacted with, all over a $7 bag of gross fried chicken and pasta salad.
This was a several years ago, I have since gotten a job in IT that doesn't make me want to die, but this reminded me of one of few funny stories from my time in the deli:
Remember that They are incapable of reading signs in human languages.
We had a Lemon Capellini salad available. Capellini. Big sign in front of it, can't miss it. Pronounced exactly how it looks. Capellini.
More than half of the people who ordered it could not say that word. A lot of people would stumble through the first two syllables and give up. Some people would throw in some extra letters and create a new word on the spot. Most people avoided saying the word entirely ("lemon salad"). At least one person asked for "lemon speghetti," and I think I had two or three people ask me how it's pronounced.
Capellini.
I’m being hyperbolic with that last part, but there’s so much basic computer stuff that the iPad can’t do that it feels like Apple only expects this to be a device to watch Netflix on.
I want to install VS Code (or a comparable IDE) and run/debug some Python scripts, can’t do it.
I want to open a terminal and use basic utilities like ssh, curl, tar, yt-dlp, rclone, rsync, etc, can’t do it. I literally need to install a separate app that lets me ssh into a Linux box so I can do basic stuff there. I’m SOL if I need to work with any data on the iPad’s file system though.
I want to install Godot and continue playing around with game development on the go, can’t do it.
I want to install Steam and play some indie games, can't do it.
Procreate is pretty good, but I’d rather use Krita.
Which means despite the fact that I want to use it for more, all I do with my iPad Pro ("Pro," lmao) is watch movies and TV from my Jellyfin server, occasionally draw if I don't feel like sitting at my desk with a proper Wacom/Krita setup, and write my shopping list.
I'm being hyperbolic with that last part, but there's so much basic computer stuff that the iPad can't do that is feels like Apple only expects this to be a device to watch Netflix on.
I want to install VS Code (or a comparable IDE) and run/debug some Python scripts, can't do it.
I want to open a terminal and use basic utilities like ssh. curl, tar, yt-dlp, rclone, rsync, etc, can't do it. I literally need to install a separate app that lets me SSH into a Linux box so I can do basic stuff there. I'm SOL if I need to work with any data on the iPad's file system though.
I want to install Godot and continue learning game development on the go, can't do it.
I want to install Steam and play Stardew Valley
The one thing I'll say is that Procreate is pretty good, but I'd rather use Krita.
Their way or no way
The one Apple product I still own is an iPad and I run into this constantly.
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Support for network shares in the files app is barely functional at best ("Just use iCloud!")
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Mouse support is still super limited ("Just use touch!")
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You can't install applications from anywhere but the appstore ("sECuRIty")
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You can't install a proper browser or browser extensions (I don't know even know what Apple's excuse for this one would be)
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You can't disable or modify window tiling ("It's just like an iPhone, because fuck multitasking!")
Apple sells the iPad as a computer replacement, but basically all its capable of is watching Netflix or basic note-taking. The longer I use this thing the more I want to buy some x86 tablet that I can just install Linux on instead.
GrapheneOS on a Pixel 8 Pro. I've been super happy with it since I switched from iOS.
I haven't had a chance to try the demo yet, but Old School Rally looks stellar.
Unless you're watching Tenet, in which case the audio sucks no matter how good your setup is.
This is a topic people get really defensive about and I've never understood why. If you look at a discussion thread about the oil industry, everyone is in agreement that the world needs to reduce its dependency on oil and people seem open to changing their own habits to help with that (to an extent and where possible). Same with energy generation, most people are happy that solar and wind power generation is becoming more widely used, and even opinions on nuclear energy plants seem to be shifting to a more positive light.
And then there's the meat industry, awful from a moral standpoint and detrimental from an environmental sustainability standpoint, and this is the topic where people are suddenly "wElL tOO bAd I'M sTiLL EaTiNg sTEak EveRY dAY."
I do not get it. Like I'm not vegan, but I've still cut out almost all meat from my diet and will happily try out or switch to totally vegan options when possible. Vegans are right about this, even if some of them are assholes about it. I'm not going to defend my non-vegan choices in my diet, sometimes I'm just lazy, but I still try to be better because it's the right thing to do.
Genuinely curious why this topic riles people up so much if anyone has an answer.
It'll absolutely never happen, but it would be cool to see Ninja Theory make a sequel to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.
Craigslist in my area is at least 90% spam, FB Marketplace is also not super active. OfferUp is pretty popular though.
I've had a homeless person ask me to send them money with Zelle before. I told him my bank doesn't support Zelle (which is true) and he was confused and asked me to double check... That whole situation was awkward.
The last device I own that doesn't run an open source operating system is an iPad. I basically use it as a laptop most of the time with a keyboard case, but I do like being able to take just the screen to use as a drawing/note-taking tablet. I treat it more like a "convertible" device rather than a tablet alone.
I'm not in a rush to replace it, iPadOS is, eh, usable, but there are things that get on my nerves often. I definitely wouldn't be upgrading to another iPad model if this one died. I'm curious on what kind of hardware is available out there with good Linux support that I can keep in mind for the future. My only requirements would be that it runs normal Linux distros (ideally Fedora) and has a pen/display that supports pressure sensitivity.
The Minisforum V3 looks pretty damn cool. There's also the Microsoft Surface devices that ironically seem popular with Linux users. Anyone have any experience with these kinds of devices? What do you think? What's your favorite device in this class?
I cannot get enough of Health, everything they've worked on since Death Magic has been so damn good.
Hey, here are a couple Steam keys leftover from the latest Humble Bundle. I'm not sure if bot scraping is a problem here like it was on Reddit, so they're base64 encoded.
WRC 9: MzBOQk0tUEZDMkotRVpaQ1I=
MudRunner: QUJOVDgtRllaNzMtVDVKMFk=
Inertial Drift: M1EwVDQtNjJUSVgtVkZMVDc=
WRC 10: NDJHQUgtM0U0TU0tUEVaOEc=
Long story short: I don’t like iOS but have been using an iPhone for a couple years due to lack of personally viable hardware options on the Android side of things. I’ve gotten tired of waiting and found a good deal on an open box Pixel 8 Pro which arrives in a few days, I’ll be installing GrapheneOS on it.
I’ve used GrapheneOS before on a Pixel 3a. I’m familiar with some must-haves like F-Droid+Aurora Store and AntennaPod, but are there any other apps I should check out once the phone gets here that I’ve been missing out on during my time on iOS? Or just any recommendations at all for cool/useful apps that most people wouldn’t think to search for?
Bonus question for *sonic/Navidrome users, what’s your favorite Android client? I used Substacks last time I daily drove GrapheneOS, but it looks like it might not be actively maintained anymore.
this image comes to mind every time i use man pages
Back on the other website, there used to be a sub called r/12in12 where people would try to beat 12, 24, 36+ games per year. I never really set myself any specific target like that, but the end of year reviews were always fun to read/write. Considering that I don't think a single game I beat came out this year, I think this is the right community to ask this.
What games did you beat this year? What did you think of them?
For me:
January:
Nothing!
February:
Spider-Man: Miles Morales 7/10
When I first played Spider-Man on a PS4, I didn't like it. The 30fps cap made the swinging feel clunky and nothing about the rest of the game made up for it. The PC release finally comes around and at last I get the hype, the web swinging is so good. The combat is very Arkham and it's fine, the story is fine, but the web swinging is just so good. Spider-Man Miles Morales is just more of that.
The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection ?/10
This game is responsible for Steam thinking that Solitaire is one of my favorite genres of games. There are multiple versions of the game here, most of them are fine but Fortune's Foundation is probably my new favorite version of Solitaire. I don't know what I'd rate this out of 10, but I got 90 hours of entertainment for my $10.
March:
Split / Second 8/10
The PC port sucks, you have to use a fan patch to remove the 30fps cap, the controller support is terrible, but there's nothing else like it. It's a fantastic arcade racer with a super unique premise. The rest of the industry seeing this and Blur bombing financially is probably why racing games are so goddamn anemic now which is such a shame.
April:
Rakuen 7/10
I've never really gotten into any RPG Maker games like this, but it had great reviews and I needed something battery-friendly to play on my Steam Deck. Rakuen was pretty darn good, the characters are well written and the environments outside of the hospital are pretty. The story is a little predictable, but I think that's fine what it wanted to tell.
May:
Hotshot Racing 6/10
What's here is fun, but there's almost nothing here. I beat the entire campaign in about an hour. The AI rubber-banding was a bit annoying at times. Also re-reading the Steam page, apparently it has always-online DRM? The fuck?
June:
Universal Paperclips ?/10
I was in the mood for a clicker game. I tried Cookie Clicker first but the pacing is just so slow. Universal Paperclips is a clicker game that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, and it scratched the itch I was looking for.
July:
Wilmot's Warehouse 8/10
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ai4NZnjOdUE/maxresdefault.jpg
Super Meat Boy 5/10
I've forced myself to start this game so many times over the years, I finally completed it and I just don't like it. Way too janky/buggy for a simple 2D platformer. I beat the final level 3 times and couldn't figure out what to do at the end, only for it to turn out that the final cutscene wasn't activating because my frame rate was too high. Ugh. It just made me want to play N++ again.
Ape Out 9/10
Ahhh it's so good. The soundtrack and sound effects and visuals, it's just perfect. A little on the short side (only took 1:40 to beat), but it's pretty replayable.
Neodash 7/10
It's basically Distance but worse. Distance is one of my favorite games of all time and is firmly a 10/10, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Any levels that rely on the mid-air controls bring down the experience a bit, but luckily there aren't a ton of those.
August:
CrossCode 10/10
A top-down RPG with a ~50-hour story? I should hate this, but everything clicked into just the right place. The puzzles are fun (maybe a little too long), the combat is great, the characters are great, the story is great, I did not expect to love this game as much as I did.
Sayonara Wild Hearts 6/10
It's basically a 1-hour music video. It's very pretty and the songs are good, but the gameplay just kind of... exists.
Mad Max 6/10
It's a beautiful looking game and the vehicle combat is fun, but everything else is pure mid-2010s generic open world game, complete with Arkham combat.
Riptide GP2 6/10
It's fine, but there's absolutely no reason to play this over Riptide GP Renegade unless you're really board and looking for a grindy podcast game like I was. Renegade is just this but better in every way. It is a bummer that there are so few boat (or boat-adjacent) racing games coming out these days.
WRC Powerslide 4/10
It's insanely repetitive and the driving physics are really floaty. The power-ups are awful but luckily they can be turned off in settings. The damage model is actually really good though, which is bizarre for a top-down racer. This got delisted from Steam years ago, if I didn't already own it, I would not go out of my way to play it.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter 7/10
It's a fun little walking simulator mystery game, I don't remember much of the actual story right now lol. I played the remastered version which was very pretty though.
Quantum Conundrum 7/10
It's a 6/10 puzzle game brought up by a full point because of John de Lancie's character.
September:
Hotline Miami 8/10
I know it's technically kind of a mess, but like everyone else I really loved it anyway. The soundtrack is excellent and clearing rooms is super satisfying. Raycevick's video really makes me want to play OXTO next.
PowerWash Simulator 8/10
The perfect podcast game.
October:
Cassette Beasts 8/10
The Pokemon games have always sounded interesting to me, but I've just never been able to get into any of them as an adult. Cassette Beasts finally scratched that itch for me, and this works way better as a concept than the Pokemon games do for me. As a bonus, the story is surprisingly good as well. Also it's made in Godot!
Sonic Generations 5/10
I don't like the Sonic games, but I've always heard this is one of the good ones so I decided to play it. A couple of the levels were fun, but most were just frustrating and/or buggy. For a character who's entire thing is going fast, the levels sure like constantly slowing you down with obstacles that cannot be seen coming.
The Witness 6/10
90% of the levels in this game are good and clever, where finding the solution is fun and satisfying. The remaining 10% includes puzzles where the entire screen is flashing to make it hard to look at, puzzles where the answer still makes no sense even after googling it, and puzzles that cannot be solved unless you solve a different puzzle first with no indication of where that's the case. The story is also nonsense but luckily it's easily ignored. This video was so cathartic after finishing the game.
Doom Eternal (& The Ancient Gods) 8/10
November:
Superliminal 8/10
My primary complaint is that it isn't longer. It took a little over an hour and a half to reach the end, but what's here is fantastic.
December:
Nothing again, lol
I remember when Proton launched it was like magic playing games like Doom and Nier Automata straight from the Linux Steam client with excellent performance. I do not miss the days of having the Windows version of Steam installed separately.
I’m curious what people here listen to, and I’m also looking for new ones to check out. I’m personally a big fan of Linux Unplugged, MBMBaM, Lateral, and Twenty Thousand Hertz!
I also cannot get Lemmy’s search to work, so apologies if this was already a recent topic.
EDIT: I have so many new podcasts to listen to now.
