TheUncannyObserver
@TheUncannyObserver@lemmy.dbzer0.com
- Comment on Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers 6 months ago:
I’m fairly certain that applies to keys a dev requests be generated, so that any Steam keys can’t be sold elsewhere for cheaper than they are on Steam itself. Games that are sold on multiple platforms including Steam can absolutely be sold at different prices. I know, because I’ve bought games elsewhere because they were cheaper than on Steam at the time due to sales.
- Comment on What are you playing this week? June 10 2024 Edition 6 months ago:
I’m playing Wildermyth. A longtime friend recommended it to me last night, and so I booted it up at work this morning and ended up playing for six hours straight till I finished the first campaign. Personally, I think the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam are well deserved. It’s definitely one of the best player-driven storytelling games I’ve ever played, and I can’t wait to see what the next campaign has in store for me.
- Comment on [deleted] 6 months ago:
Beyond Earth was the spiritual successor. You might not like that, but you’re probably never going to get your idea of a “real” sequel because BE didn’t do well. Might as well wish for a second season of Firefly while you’re at it.
- Comment on Why Didn't Democrats Do More When They Controlled Both Houses of Legislature, The White House, and The Supreme Court During Obama's First Term? 7 months ago:
Because Democrats aren’t progressives, and maintaining the status quo is good for them. They get easy paychecks from lobby groups, and don’t have to fight too hard for anything. And if something bad happens, like Roe v. Wade, they can use it as fodder to get reelected. It’s not really in their best interests to work on making things better, at least from a personal financial standpoint.
- Comment on [Serious] What is project 2025? What kind of risk is involved? 7 months ago:
Don’t be scared? I mean, even if there’s a full on civil war, which isn’t likely, why would it spill into Canada unless your nation picks a side?
What’s more likely is that democrats would do what they always do and back down, cementing our slide into facism while preventing a civil war.
What you should really be worried about is having a violent monarchy forming on your southern border, because you’ve got some socialist tendencies, and conservatives hate that.
- Comment on United Nations or something idk 7 months ago:
Hey, you found Trump’a speech writer.
- Comment on Why are male social workers so different? 7 months ago:
Could also just be internal biases, on the side of either or both of you. Don’t rule out the possibility that you are the problem.
- Comment on Why are male social workers so different? 7 months ago:
Well to be fair, we don’t know that you aren’t. You could be a murderer. Or even worse, somebody who doesn’t mind wearing their socks after they get wet.
- Comment on Vanguard takes screenshots of your PC every time you play a game 7 months ago:
I don’t play Valorant, so I can’t say. I do know, however, that it runs as a Windows service, so it’s always on and always keeping an eye on your system.
- Comment on Vanguard takes screenshots of your PC every time you play a game 7 months ago:
Valorant, as of right now. I don’t think any other games use it.
- Comment on Why bag the hydrant? 8 months ago:
Whatever paint was on it when it was put in will last for several years at best. What do you propose they do when the coating starts wearing? Advances in coating technology and the laws regarding them change every few years, so will you guarantee the coating used will be available to them the next time they need to apply it? What budget will they take money away from to strip the hydrants when that time comes so they can be repainted? Painting a hydrant is more than a few hundred dollars for the coating. You have to pay to have the previous coating removed. You have to pay for the new coating and any two part additives it needs, like hardeners or accelerators. You need to pay for the painters with the experience with whatever type of coating you’re repainting them with. For a hydrant, it would probably be some kind of industrial oil-based alkyd. Hopefully a direct to metal, although they might need a suitable primer for the coating they’ve picked if they don’t go with a DTM. That’ll be another hundred or so per gallon. You also have to pay for hazmat disposal of any leftovers from the job.
If you haven’t guessed, I work in the painting industry, specifically dealing with commercial and industrial grade architectural coatings. A job like painting all the hydrants in a town would be many thousands of dollars. In a city, it would be hundreds of thousands. A five gallon bucket of the product I would recommend for the use would retail about $900 per five gallons, although the sales rep would work with the city and whatever painter they hired for the job to negotiate a lower price based on how much they needed.
I’m not writing all this to put you down, or try to make you feel stupid. I’m doing it to point out that things that might seem like they have simple, straightforward solutions oftentimes turn out to be a lot more complex and expensive than people realize. Especially when it comes to maintaining critical infrastructure. This picture might be from a small town that doesn’t have the money to afford repainting their hydrants. It’s a lot cheaper to toss a plastic bag with some zip ties over it. If I’m being honest, it’s probably better for the environment too.
- Comment on Why bag the hydrant? 8 months ago:
Are you sure the correct kind of paint was available when it was installed? And how long of a lifespan does that paint have? Surely not the life of the hydrant. This isn’t a one and done sort of thing. This is something you have to do every few to several years, depending on the specific coating you use. Every so often, the laws change regarding what can be used where, and advances in coating technology means a specific product might only be available for a few years before it’s replaced with something else, if it’s replaced at all. Working in the paint industry, I can tell you that some products died when COVID hit and the companies that made them went under.
- Comment on Why bag the hydrant? 8 months ago:
You’re forgetting the cost of removing them from the ground to have them sandblasted beforehand. This isn’t latex water based paint for your wall. You don’t just toss it on top of whatever is already there.
- Comment on Why bag the hydrant? 8 months ago:
You also need your pay to have each of them taken out of the ground and sandblasted before they are coated. Industrial coatings aren’t like house paint, you can’t toss on extra layers and move on.
- Comment on Why bag the hydrant? 8 months ago:
Salt resistant paint is industrial, and it’s expensive. Depending on the product, it can also be a two part system and need special preparation. And by expensive, I mean it can cost over a hundred dollars per gallon, if you aren’t getting a deal on it. That’s a big investment for a smaller town.
- Comment on This is way too expensive for a drink. 11 months ago:
Good news! This drink is mostly water by volume!
- Comment on This is way too expensive for a drink. 11 months ago:
Eww. The only thing worse than bottled Lipton is Brisk.
- Comment on People who dont particularly care for or celebrate Christmas, Whats your favorite Christmas song? 11 months ago:
Carol of the Bells. No other Christmas song goes as hard.