simmanian

I read online that playing games on a shared screen is better because it establishes gaming as a group/social activity.

A few weeks ago, I installed linux (Nobara, if you're curious) on my PC and hooked it up to the living room TV to use as a gaming console. I have absolutely no regret. I did it initially because apparently playing games on a shared screen is better for my kid. But I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly Windows only games run on Linux. The whole experience has been great, and I don't think I'll ever go back. I have an nvidia gpu as well, which apparently does not work very well on Linux. For me, on Nobara, it's been working flawlessly.

The most annoying thing I encountered was the Switch controller support being rather poor. Every button press was somehow interpreted as two different buttons at the same time and I had to figure out which commands to run on Terminal to stop it from happening. Even then, the bluetooth connection on my PC was so bad that I had to stay within 3 feet lest the controller disconnects. I don't really think this is a Linux issue per se, but I recommend people buy a couple of 8bitdo controllers on Amazon which come with USB dongles if they want to go this route.

I will miss games that I can only play with mouse and keyboard, but I think there are enough games out there with controller support that this is not going to be an issue.

I find the Q&As on his personal blog the most accessible way to grasp his views: https://thoughtforms.life/qa-from-the-internet-and-recent-pr...

Michael Levin's ontology (that the body basically acts as pointers to the mind in Platonic Realm) is so crazy that I want it to be true.

Haven't used skills so far -- do you simply store them in your skills directory and have them automatically get used or do you have to specify one of the skills every time?

The article and the comments remind me of Michael Levin's work on bioelectricity.

20 min ted talk - https://youtu.be/XheAMrS8Q1c

3 hr lex fridman episode - https://youtu.be/p3lsYlod5OU

Well, I didn't say I look forward to living in a tiny capsule in space, just that it would be fun to live in a time where that's possible. I'd imagine most people would not venture into space until they can make it comfortable enough.

I find it hard to believe too, but at the same time, Demis Hassabis has also said that AI will help us "colonize the galaxy" in as little as five years [1]. Maybe Sam Altman was emboldened by Hassabis' statement.

I would not be opposed to living in a future where I can personally live in space. It would be quite fun.

[1] (paywalled) https://fortune.com/2025/06/06/google-deepmind-ceo-demis-has...

and that what they want to call "GPT-5" is a fusion of their various models like 4o, dalle...

Do you have a source? I ask because I read the opposite.

If you keep this up i'm going to email dang. Your choice.

As I already told you (yes, you), I doubt anything I say will change your mind. I do hope one day you will come to see that yelling ching chong at an asian man on the street should be seen as racist if you think a bunch of Arabs were being racists just because they said the word "Bangladeshi."

when white people call me chinese ching chong it's not racism, but when arab people say something about bangladeshi, then of course it's racism? i have a couple guesses as to why you would think this way and it's sad.

I assume such events are randomly distributed.

your point is racism towards asians does not exist, because these random assholes are being assholes toward random targets and they would basically act the same way to other white people. i disagree. i believe what the grandparent comment described about their partner's experience in rural town america is more or less true. you are free to think they are a liar or an outlier. but when people you have never interacted with call you a chinese ching chong on the street when you're just walking home, you have to admit there is some racial element to their abuse. would they have yelled anything at me if i were just another white dude in their predominantly white neighborhood? somehow i highly doubt that.

no, i don't think these people go about their lives consciously trying to be especially mean to asian people. most of them have probably just internalized certain biases against asians. for the sake of convenience, i and many others have decided to categorize such patterns of behavior as racism.

again, you are free to believe that racism is not real. if you are squarely within that camp, i doubt anything i say will change your mind.

again, super happy for you. but i feel some people try to go out of their way to convince themselves that racism is not at play even when it clearly is, because it paints a picture where they are somehow "better" than those who experience hatred. the guy who yelled at me to park farther away, when I called him out on what he said, he walked up to me in an imposing manner and said, "so yeah, I can be a little racist, so what are you going to do, mr. china?" I'm not even chinese.

this is just an anecdote, and you don't have to believe what i say. but i think racism (against asians) is very real and many people are affected by it every day.

Why are you asking this given what the parent comment described? Are you accusing them of lying or blowing things out of proportion? I'm truly, honestly happy that you have not experienced anything like what the parent comment described. But I grew up in west coast America and I still experienced a lot of casual racism. Park next to someone? They yell, "This ain't China, don't park so close." Walk home from school? Students yell ching chong at me. Shit is messed.

I wonder if you can really claim copyright on ai generated music like aiva is trying to do.

You describe the music you want in text and it generates the whole music with or without lyrics (your choice) a la stable diffusion. You can optionally supply it with your own lyrics. I don't think it counts as "creating music" yet but with inpainting and better tooling, it can probably get to where text to image generation is today in short order.

Right, no AI agent has shown itself to be capable of building amazing things. I just thought if current trends hold and big corps keep gobbling up everything to create bigger and better AI models, then even average people will have a lot to gain from it if big corps actually successfully build intelligent AI. Because then the playground would be leveled.

Wouldn't intelligent AI agents enable average people to build amazing things?

Do you have recommendations for other high quality courses teaching CS things?

I am conflicted every time my wife brings home Patagonia she received for free at work

I would like to remind people that...

+ the primary source of microplastic particle generation in most households is the washing and drying of (plastic) clothes. I don't have evidence to back this up, but I have a feeling you breathe in more plastic fiber particles every time you remove lint from your dryer than you ingest through your mouth the whole year.

+ the more processed a food is, the higher its microplastic concentration [1] - apparently breaded shrimp is the worst.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/01/12/...

People who complain about Jira from a user perspective should try managing an instance - hundreds of people filing tickets to change specific configurations for their project and the right knobs and levers are so difficult to find that you end up filing tickets to engage Atlassian support so they can tell you where those settings are.

Could you disclose where you work, or some of the orgs you see yourself working at?

Not sure how things are in Chattanooga, but you will still have to exert yourself to climb hills, just way less than before. Also, REI lets you test drive these for free, so I would definitely try it out before buying!

My initial thought after reading this comment is, it probably requires a lot more "tech" and design work to allow bikers to have that seamless biking experience while giving them the desired boost. I remember seeing a lot of discussions around how certain motors "feel" on ebike forums.

that depends on local laws. depending on where you live, it may be illegal to ride high speed ebikes in the first place.

If you're in US, REI has a 40% sale for their gen 1.1 and 1.2 bikes. Great entry level ebikes with proper range.

I bought an ebike to complement my aging 2007 Toyota instead of replacing it outright with another car. I use the bike for most light use cases within the 10 mile radius and still lean into using my car when needed. Here are my takes on ebikes.

Pros:

- Ebikes help people punch above their weight class, allowing them to bike farther and faster

- Going uphill is much easier

- Ebikes encourage people to be more adventurous and discover local scenic routes

Cons:

- Good ebikes cost as much as my 2007 toyota

- If you drive a hub motor and you get a flat (and you will eventually), it's harder to fix it up

- They tend to be rather heavy (harder to drive without assistance), and lighter ones cost a lot of $$$

- I am worried my bike may get stolen a little more

For those interested in getting an entry level ebike and living in US, I recommend REI's gen 1.1 and 1.2 ebikes. They're 40% off(!) right now, which seems to be a rare discount for ebikes.

what are some good post-covid treatments? I seem to be having symptoms of depression after covid. WebMD says a thiamine-rich diet is good to treat beri beri, but not sure if "eating better" can help me out here.