jamesgreenleaf

"Smart: no start-ups put rats on trams."

Let's hope this remains true.

People keep telling me to use Dreamweaver but I stick with what works: FrontPage 98

https://web.archive.org/web/20250220174125/https://www.wired...

I forget where I read this, but shutting off the cards was part of the playbook when Musk took ownership of Twitter. If I remember correctly, they shut off the cards and waited to see who complained. Apparently they discovered a bunch of subscription services that no one had even signed into or used at all, just paying out for years.

Everything older than me is boomer, everything younger is zoomer.

I wonder how much of it has to do with the reward. In D&D you get experience points, gain levels, get powerful magic items, etc. There is generally immediate positive feedback when you accomplish a goal or overcome an obstacle in the game world. But in real life, most times the only reward is that the obstacle has been cleared.

Stephen Wolfram is a national treasure.

What's trite is often true.

If the elite are defined as those who benefit from the system, then we are all the elite.

Why would aliens expend the enormous energy required to engineer this?

So there are these great big buildings in Egypt...

I've used Backblaze for years and it's worth the money. I've only done a full restore from it once after a laptop was bricked and it was seamless. There have been a few times that I needed a recently deleted file and it worked for that too.

You can tell what a person is like by how they treat the waiter.

That goes double for chatbots.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Torvalds did name it "the stupid content tracker" after all. You were warned!

You just know that every theater audience will be shouting all the lines along with the movie. That alone will make it worth going.

It's not unhealthy until you buy a Topre.

If you like this, read House of Leaves.

That's funny, I was thinking about that poem just this morning.

One of those ones that sticks with you, and rings true for so many domains, whether you want it to or not!

The D&D cosmology is bonkers too. Every solar system exists inside its own separate "crystal sphere" which floats in the chaotic fiery substance called phlogiston that fills the universe. There's a hundred different dimensions and planes of existence. Gods exist in some crystal spheres, but not in others. There's an "astral plane" where time doesn't exist, but somehow creatures there can still move around, but they don't age.

It makes no sense, and it doesn't have to. It's all just for fun. D&D is a huge mishmash of all the ancient mythologies and folk tales, plus a bunch of modern ones invented just for the game.

The irony of "don't give people unsolicited advice" always gets me.

Nothing is too quick for them.

Cats even have a faster average reaction time than snakes.

I like to read the negative reviews on Steam to help talk myself out of purchases.

Hah, I do the same thing. On other sites too - the well-written negative reviews have a lot of value. Although, on some of the best games on steam, I've seen a few top negative reviews that say something like: "Why are you looking at the negative reviews? You know this game is great."

I think you're right though. Games have their place and are culturally important, but the trend has veered more toward optimizing for engagement (addiction) and dark patterns like overcharging for cosmetics and such.

I don't believe that no one predicted the overwhelming success of a long-anticipated sequel to one of the most legendary and deeply-loved games of all time.

Maybe I've played BG2 too many times, but for me this was a no-brainer. You could read the steam reviews from early access as well, and the prediction should have been pretty easy. People were already impressed with the early campaign.

Personally I'm putting off buying BG3 because I know how addictive it'll be.

This is really well done. Great concept and execution. I love the Baba Is You style.

Only issue for me is that the instructions did not pop up fast enough.

There should be laws & regulations around this type of thing.

Critical devices that run your home should always be able to disconnect and continue to run. Any cloud-connected features should be entirely optional.

That's a good one. I've also told it to avoid blanket disclaimers, which pop up all the time if you ask about anything related to nutrition or fitness.

If xAI produces a competing product (which Elon stated is their goal) I wouldn't be surprised if it is less "limited" than ChatGPT/Bing/Bard/Claude/etc.

Look at that graphic! The mouse, as Pied Piper, leading those kids (whose eyes roll back as they proceed, trancelike) away from the safety of their castle — their home. The kid closest to Chuck is so far gone that he has become part animal himself. But to Chuck, this is merely business, as indicated by his briefcase and dead eyes. He is only there to collect the parents' money, and the children's souls.

Chuck E. Chichikov.

/s

https://chiptune.app/?play=Nintendo%20SNES%2FChrono%20Trigge...

I'm convinced that using the "mac layout" for your main modifier key (Cmd) is a huge improvement when it comes to comfort and reducing strain. If you're on another OS, you should remap Control to your Alt key. I've done this on my Windows & Linux machines, and it takes a few days to get used to, but it's just night and day. Pinky weak, thumb strong.

Snow Crash:

    Y.T.’s mom pulls up the new memo, checks the time, and starts reading it. The estimated reading time is 15.62 minutes. Later, when Marietta [her boss] does her end-of-day statistical roundup, sitting in her private office at 9:00 P.M., she will see the name of each employee and next to it, the amount of time spent reading this memo, and her reaction, based on the time spent, will go something like this:

    • Less than 10 min.: Time for an employee conference and possible attitude counseling.
    • 10-14 min.: Keep an eye on this employee; may be developing slipshod attitude.
    • 14-15.61 min.: Employee is an efficient worker, may sometimes miss important details.
    • Exactly 15.62 min.: Smartass. Needs attitude counseling.
    • 15.63-16 min.: Asswipe. Not to be trusted.
    • 16-18 min.: Employee is a methodical worker, may sometimes get hung up on minor details.
    • More than 18 min.: Check the security videotape, see just what this employee was up to (e.g., possible unauthorized restroom break).

    Y.T.’s mom decides to spend between fourteen and fifteen minutes reading the memo. It’s better for younger workers to spend too long, to show that they’re careful, not cocky. It’s better for older workers to go a little fast, to show good management potential. She’s pushing forty. She scans through the memo, hitting the Page Down button at reasonably regular intervals, occasionally paging back up to pretend to reread some earlier section. The computer is going to notice all this. It approves of rereading. It’s a small thing, but over a decade or so this stuff really shows up on your work-habits summary.