BananaTrifleViolin

@BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy Infintiy⁩ ⁨⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s a thought experiment, not an observation. The idea is that if you have infinity and it’s truly random than eventually all possibilities emerge.

  The idea of infinite monkeys typing randomly on infinite typewriters is that eventually one of them would accidentally type out all the works of Shakespeare. Many more would type out parts of the works of Shakespeare. And many many many more would type random garbage.

  If we imagine for a moment the multiverse is infinite and random, then every possible universe would exist somewhere in that multiverse.

  It can be taken in other directions too. It’s a way of cocneptualising the implications of infinity and true randomness.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are laptop adapters so much larger than phone adapters of same power rating?⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  One significant difference that has been missed here is that Laptops can and often do run on the power supply, while phones usually use the power purely to charge the battery.

  It’s a significant difference as the laptop needs a stable electricity supply to supply all it’s components or the laptop would crash. That means not only does the brick need to dissipate heat, but it also needs to be able to deliver a stable continuous DC current. So as well as a taanformer and rectifier (that together convert AC to the correct DC needed) there are smoother and potentially capacitors to ensure a smooth continuous output even if the wall supply is janky.

  If you turn off the power at the wall / unplug you often see any light on the power brick stay on - that is because of the capacitors and there is still a small amount of energy available to the laptop as it discharges.

  While phones are mini computers they are usually designed to always run on the battery. Even when charging, the phone draws it’s power from the battery and it’s in built circuits to smooth the current; there isn’t usually the redundancy in a phone to switch between different supplies in the same way as a laptop. There isn’t also the expectation that they need to run off the wall continuously by users (even if users might plug their phone in and expect to continue to use it, they will find their phone shuts down if its at 0% and they push it beyond what the recharging battery can supply; a laptop would be expected to run solely on the wall not shut off).

  Things are blurring now with USB C power supplies for laptops - but you will find the plug itself has more of the electronics built in or some of the functions of the power brick have moved into the laptop to reduce charger bulkiness. Look at how bulky a USB c charger plug is for a Mac - they’re not simple USB chargers you’d use for a phone or tablet, they’re bulky because they are also doing the smoothing and stabilisation people expect for their laptops.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What does this emoji mean? Is this a British thumbs up?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s the “call me hand” emoji.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What does this emoji mean? Is this a British thumbs up?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It is not the shaka. It’s the “call me sign” emoji.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Subnautica 2 early access should last "2 to 3 years" - it'll launch with "several biomes" and "some narrative"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It is but it’s also one of the few options available to devs. They can sign up with a big publisher and then be beholden to them financially and creatively. Or they can try the kickstarter route, or they can take out huge loans or investment and be beholden to them. If they’re lucky they can get grants from governments but that is sporadic and uncommon. Or they can scale back projects to reduce financial risk.

  Some devs can self fund once very successful, but even a successful dev like the makers of Subnautica won’t have lots of money on hand. Plus even if they have cash, it is also about risk and sharing that so they don’t go completely bankrupt on one project and all their employees lose their jobs.

  Early Access has its down sides for definite but it does allow game devs to get revenue in while developing, and also (if done well) focus on delivering a game the players actually like. The biggest benefit is definitely that it allows devs as much independence as feasible.

  Of course for the players, it can be hit or miss but that is the risk with any game. And no one forces anyone to buy an EA game - if you don’t like it, don’t buy and wait til 1.0. That’s no different than waiting for any game to release so not sure what the problem is from that point of view?

  For players in terms of a pure “investment” then of course it’s a bad deal - the only return you get is the hopeful 1.0 game, and you get no share of any profits. You’re actually just another customer, who has been tapped very early. But again, it’s a choice and gamers can just not buy early access.

  I’ve bought quite a few games via kickstarter and EA routes, but only games that I’m passionate about and are relatively niche (like small indie projects, or genres that don’t get much mainstream action now like Adventure games). As much as I enjoyed Subnautica, I personally wouldn’t buy its sequel on EA except maybe if it was very close to release.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Explain why the US bail system is not insane⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I think a lot of people misunderstand because in so many TV shows and movies it’s a trope for someone to get in trouble and be bailed out. The fact that they’ve got a court case to attend and that’s not the end of it is often left out.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Replacing an old mini fridge⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I know this is random, but I like your writing style. You manage to throw in flourishes of language and colour, even dramatic biblical references, when talking about nothing more than a broken fridge.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Twitter's UK userbase has been absolutely decimated since Musk took over⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Pretty rubbish article to be honest. It’s all hyperbole and no data or facts. It includes one embedded tweet with a graph about sharing political content.

  While I suspect it’s true, it’s hard to trust a article that doesn’t back up it’s claims with any data or even quantify the claims it’s making. The closest it gest to data is “millions” but that’s pretty meaningless on its own.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Please make sure to check the expiration date on your toilet paper⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  if you’re american, manufactured 18 July 2023?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wales 20mph: Calls made for 1,500 roads to revert to 30mph⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  As someone who drives to and around Wales multiple times a year, it’s a poorly thought out and implemented policy.

  Many people speed and break the limit, particularly on main roads, and it’s lack of popular support is an issue in itself.

  The policy could work if the speed limits was reverted to 30mph on bigger roads but local councils and the Welsh assembly blame each other for the issues.

  There is also little enforcment at present - that is changing and once people start getting fined for breaking the 20mph limit it’s likely to become much more unpopular.

  It could have probably been implemented successfully and with popular support and more careful designation of 30mph roads. It’s a failure of politicians rather than the idea itself.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨i need an rv, and lab equipment, and a helper⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Why “dr*g”? That’s a wierd bit of censorship - making a joke about drugs and sex workers and feeling the need to censor the word drug? I don’t get it?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is linux actually gaming ready or is it just not for me?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Its not about memory size its about the asymmetric sticks. It was a classic problem with OS memory management in the past. Modern OS are better at dealing with it but it is not the optimal set up.

  You’re running windows game which use proton/wine that manage memory for the game and use linux for access to RAM. The asymmetry could easily cause issues you wouldn’t notice with native apps.

  I’d try removing the 16gb stick and see what happens with the games you’ve been trying. It might not he the issue but the only way to know is to test it, rather than dismiss it because its not what you expected.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is linux actually gaming ready or is it just not for me?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The common denominator in your issues would be your PC. If games are working according to protonDB and you’re unable to get them to work on multiple distros that suggests its your PC.

  There are two candidates in your specs - your RAM and your Graphics card.

  As others have said, asymmetric RAM is unusual and it certainly was warned against in the past as it caused system issues. While OS may be much better at managing RAM bow, that doesn’t mean all scenarios can tolerate it. Given what Proton is doing is complex (running Wine, which is essentially a windows layer) I would not be surprised if the memory configuration is just a step too far - you have windows software using a windows compatibility layer for memory asking a linux is for memory access.

  An obvious way to test this is to remove the 16gb stick from your machine and see what happens.

  The other side is your graphics card - are you using the latest nvidia drivers?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Worst examples of Treknobabble⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I think Discovery had the worst. It isn’t the technobabbke it self that was the problem, it was how it was delivered.

  Everyone seemed to be needed to be the most intelligent person in the room. So one person would start with some sudden realisation and solution, and then another would interrupt them and pick up the idea and then either back to the first person, or yet another person would interrupt. Between then all they’d build a tower of technobabble and deus ex machina, and self congratulatory nonsense. It was just so silly.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is "disk" just a different spelling of "disc" or are they actually different words?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Disc and disk are varient spellings of the same word that pre-exist computing. Disc is more common in British English, Disk more common in American English. But yeah since computing came along disk has also been used more for magnetic media (hard disk) while disc has been used more for optical media (compact disc). I wouldn’t be surprised if this only happened because of how the CD was marketed and branded as a “compact disc” as a trademark while hard disks and floppy disks etc were more generic terms.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are doctors so hands off and unhelpful in the USA?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The US healthcare system is built around money and profit. A cheaper procedure which does not require general anaesthetic costs less, and reduces profit. That can be beneficial to the providers but bloat is incentivised in the US healthcare system as providers battle with insurance companies for money. Crudely healthcare providers don’t care about saving you money; they want to take as much money as they can get.

  Meanwhile, countries with tax funded health care opt for the most cost effective procedures, investigations and treatments. The incentive is to reduce costs and offer the most effective things to the most people possible. That can also sometimes have negative side effects if not carefully regulated but in such systems generally Doctors advocate for the best procedure and best medical practice, as they themselves do not directly benefit financially from which procedure is pushed. The downside is you do get the opposite side of things where patients are dissuaded from things as they’re not deemed cost effective by those who control the spending.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do you prefer to buy games on Steam or GOG?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You can add games to Steam to use proton so where they came from doesn’t matter. You can also use Proton forks and bypass steam altogether - much of the underlying tech is Wine; proton is a patched and optimised version of Wine not a stand alone Valve product. Its great what they’ve done but it is still a collaborative open source effort.

  As for which store, I go on price and sometimes go with GOG even if more expensive because of DRM, and sometimes Steam because of the convenience of the workshop.

  I don’t think it needs to be any more complex than that - these are company’s taking your money for the same product. Its kinda pointless being “loyal” to a retailer - its more important to focus on value for money and quality of service for each purchase.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨is there a trustworthy SMS MMS app for Android that's not Google?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think you’re absolutely right.

  The announcement of dropping SMS at the time gave those vibes. They were basically saying to users “we know what’s good for ypu better than you do”.

  It was a huge strategic misstep. SMS was the perfect route to get people to use Signal - you’d start with SMS conversations and then as people joined signal conversations could switch to secure chat. Now its very hard to persuade people to switch to Signal.

  Now google has used the same trick to push its own messaging standard RCS.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stoke-on-Trent couple fined £1,200 after clearing up rubbish⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  So while I personally disagree with the fine, technically they were fly tipping as they added their box to the rubbish which included their address.

  Yes it is seemingly petty and the council are now PR wise idiots for enforcing the fine, but legally it is pretty clear cut. The council would have to take it on trust that the rest of the rubbish wasn’t theirs and wave the fine, and why would they believe them? We all believe them because its in a BBC article and they kicked up a fuss, and publicised it.

  Its one of those stories which isn’t quite as clear cut as it first seems.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I ordered my daughter a pizza, something I don't usually do. I got Domino's smallest size with two toppings. I got her cheese sticks and two sauces and tipped the driver 20%. $31.07.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The thing about inflation is the food is not expensive, its the value of money that’s gone down. Its salaries that are way too low to afford the new prices. The food isn’t too expensive - employees are being underpaid.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NPR: 'Star Trek: Discovery' ends as an underappreciated TV pioneer⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah its just not a good show.

  I just watched a scene where Michael and Mol were working together, then suddenly Michael decides to attack Mol, then they have a kung fu fight and finally Michael asks Mol stop and says she needs to trust her. The writing is nonsensical.

  Unfortunately that is symptomatic of the show as a whole and just one of many problems.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why Toyota Is Intentionally "Falling Behind" On EVs | Morning Brew (10:10)⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It depends on use case. If you’re driving in a city or living in a small country or state, electric makes a lot of sense.

  Range anxiety only really kicks in if driving long distances. But 300 miles on a full charge is already common among electric cars. I’m in the UK - that’d easily covet the 200 mile journey from Manchester to London.

  I think the real anxiety around range is a lack of chargers either on the journey or at the destination. Without that infrastructure then it will put people off electric cars. But the infrastructure is getting better every day -at least in Europe anyway.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Should I permanently leave Israel?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You need to decide what you want from your life. It is not your responsibility to “fix” Israel. If you feel truly passionate about it then go for it.

  But if you’re worried about this out of a vague sense of guilt or responsibility then park it. You get one life to live - don’t waste it doing something your don’t want to do or are not passionate about. Live a good life and strive for happiness, and try to be kind and good to those you meet on the journey - that is all that can be asked of anyone.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mr Bates vs Post Office drama lost £1m, ITV boss says⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think his point was more the state of broadcast television at the moment. There has been a major advertising slump in UK TV - for example channel 4 is in dire straits, cutting 17% of their workforce, stopping commissioning an holding lots of shows back from broadcast as an accounting ploy to not pay production companies until the next financial year.

  ITV on paper are doing much better but to find their biggest hit of the year actually lost money says alot about the state of UK broadcast TV. The first run advertising and the UK streaming catch up money (or fragments of subscriptions to ITVX) haven’t made the show profitable.

  Shows now need to be saleable abroad to make money and a show like this just doesn’t sell enough to make profit.

  Its bad news because it means ITV and others are less incentivised to make these types of shows and instead retreat back to cheaper shows (reality and quizzes), and stuff that will sell abroad. Stuff that sells abroad is not necessarily bad but it does push to more generic types of TV over culturally important or unique shows that would only appeal here.

  There isn’t really a solution to this in the commercial sector. Advertising might bounce back but probably not as that money is now directed at the Internet and social media, not TV.

  The BBC could be a champion for this type of stuff but it’s doing badly too as the license fee has not kept up with inflation for years, so it’s having to make very deep cuts to keep as much of its many commitments going as possible.

  Meanwhile American streamers including Netflix are gobbling up the market and UK broadcasters can’t compete with the shear scale of their operations.

  Personally I think the funding for the BBC needs to go up substantially, and maybe slices of new money even become available for any broadcaster to apply for to ensure culturally important shows can be funded. The commercially viable stuff will always have funding but the more niche and UK specific stuff needs to be protected and probably subsidised to maintain a cultural voice and support diversity in the output of our creative industries.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Cities Skylines 2: "Beach properties assets are all gone and my city is screwed. Thanks a lot."⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I loved Cities 1, I was massively looking forward to 2 but it’s been nothing but a shitshow.

  I’ve also had a enough of the gaslighting around this game that somehow it’s the angry customers that are the problem.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do you see that you wish others saw?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think others see this but not enough: the slow collapse of Liberal democracy.

  A rot has set in and people in politics and government no longer believe in liberal democracy. If you read history you find impassioned fighting for liberty, freedom and equality.

  Now we have quasi democracies, with erosions of freedoms, rights and even dumbing down of access to news coverage and knowledge. Countries like the USA and UK that were leading lights in liberal democracy have fallen back into more authoritarian regimes. Countries in continental Europe that were bastions of liberal democracy also seem to losing their way. Big corporations and a wealthy elite are working against the interests of Liberal democracy and we’re letting them do it.

  Authoritarianism is the scourge of our age - being pushed by China and Russia and taking hold in India, the middle east, Africa and increasingly in the west.

  It’s depressing to see the rot.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Long term, why would it be limited to $1000?

  This is honestly an issue about the long term prospects of our species. More and more production is becoming automated, resources owned, and complex work likely going to AIs. This causes a fundamental breakdown of our current system - people working is largely “redundant” in a world of automation; people are less and less of a “resource” and capitalism begins to make less and less sense.

  We’re playing with the idea of UBI now, but we’re going to need solutions to this problem. Whoever owns the robots, AIs, land/resources owns everything. Either we let this be concentrated in the hands of an arisocratic class of billionaires, or we rebuild the system and accept capitalism is over. If people can’t “sell” their time through work, then how are people going to live.

  I know it all sounds very science-fiction but this is the reality our world is sleep walking into. Instead of coming up with plans to dace this, our politicians are unsurprisingly pissing about focusing on nonsense and tinkering at the fringes of the problem at best.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are mental hospitals run like prisons?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I hope you recover soon. I’ve been depressed in the past and convinced that suicide is the right path. It is not - when you’re mentally ill you lose perspective and people telling you “it’ll get better” or “life is worth living” but thay will seem hollow.

  If you find it difficult to understand why people want you to live then maybe think of it this way: what have you got to lose? If you’ve decided it’s over and there is no point, then you might as well try the support and the medication because you’ve got nothing left to lose.

  I’m glad I took the support and the meds. It did get better, and that was the route for me to heal and change the direction of my life.

  I hope you try, and maybe realise that it wouldn’t be a true decision if you’re too mentally unwell to make a rational decision.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are mental hospitals run like prisons?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Two reasons.

  One is to ensure people do not come to harm or allow harm to others. As harsh as it seems, the whole point is to stop people from killing themselves or enabling someone else to kill themselves.

  The other is to prevent illegal drugs coming in to mental health units. Unfortunately mental health services are also overwhelmed by social issues and drug use is rife. The units don’t want to deal with high patients who can be aggressive or even OD.

  It can seem harsh but it’s not like a prison. A prison is punishment, while a mental health unit is often a place to hold someone in a crisis so they can’t harm themselves. The loss of freedom and dignity can feel like punishment, particularly on over stretched understaffed units but they’re trying to save lives. It’s a blunt tool as a last resort.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How does delisting a game make/save money?⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This sort of makes sense but not for quite the same reasons. This may be an attempt to simplify their licensing arrangements so they can resell them. It’s easier to cancel all the licensing agreements in one go so they can then make a fresh exclusive arrangement with a single company.

  It’s less about competing with the existing games (which they already control through licensing) and more to do with being able to sell or use the licensing cleanly without worrying about pre-existinf commitments.

  Like, for each new game either you do legal compliance to make sure you’re not breaching your previous agreements OR you cancel all the agreements in one go and you never have to bother worrying about it. Saves money but also makes you the sort of company businesses will be wary doing deals with. But they probably have a deal with a big publisher lined up or intend to take the whole thing in house.