Zink
@Zink@programming.dev
- Comment on Nintendo can disable your Switch 2 for piracy in the U.S., but not in Europe, as confirmed by its EULA 1 day ago:
I have had this long-term tendency in my gaming platforms where I alternate between PC and console as my primary long-term focus. For example, I remember that 2019 was almost nothing but VR gaming on my PC, but in more recent years I’ve used game pass on xbox to play all kinds of titles that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
My family uses the Xbox pretty regularly still, but I think now that I can use my Linux PC from the couch (without taking over the TV) it has broken me from caring about consoles. Like, I recognize the skill of Nintendo’s developers and I know I’m going to play the mario & kart releases eventually, but I haven’t even considered getting a switch 2. I know a family member has one, so likely my first time playing Mario Kart World will be at thanksgiving, lol.
I am also a fan of emulation. I’d be content if you only ever allowed me to play my NES, SNES, and PSX roms for the rest of my life. But since Nintendo’s business model means putting their beautifully designed games only on restricted/limited hardware, it’s a better way to play some of their newer stuff too.
- Comment on Anon is rude at work 1 day ago:
So yeah this is me. I’m sure it’s a lot of us here. If you’re lucky you also have that flavor of neurospice that comes with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, so that not only is the social interaction itself taxing, but then the idea of sharing personal information is horrifying.
The results you get from it still depend on how you choose to react to your environment. Importantly, your brain and neurodivergence are part of that environment.
And it’s ok. Being friendly and participating in chats is not going to sign you up to go to anybody’s house. Sharing some details about your weekend plans won’t invite criticism or sign you up for other activities. (but if you work in a toxic environment, use your own act accordingly)
I think even with those of us who are very introverted, a lot of how “present” versus “withdrawn” you come across still comes down to things like depression, anxiety, and fatigue. I am fortunate right now to have a pretty good environment between a good job, the right medications, and mental/physical health. I’ll smile and wave at folks around the office, or BS about nerdy shit with whichever other engineers are in the office that day.
…but then I’ll still put in my earbuds and not talk to anybody for hours on end. If another person doesn’t strike up a conversation, maybe I don’t talk out loud all day. And at lunch I’ll not just sit in my car but drive home to eat!
There’s also something deeper and more fundamental at play here. Part of figuring out how to take care of myself and enjoy existence more has been to consciously nudge myself towards actions that I expect to benefit my well-being, rather than what works best for me in the moment. It can be little things, but they do add up.
For example, stopping to ask somebody who does customer demos what interesting stuff they’ve been working on. It seems like the typical in-office time waster. However, a short positive social interaction with a friendly face can boost both of your moods and make both of your days better.
This is the point where I’d make a joke about how wasting a bit of the company’s time to improve the mental health of two human beings is a win-win in my book. But we all know that happier employees will literally produce better results for the employer!
- Comment on You can drive 74 hours and still be in Germany. The American mind can't comprehend this. 5 days ago:
Yeah, I have a few in my Pennsyltucky town and over the years people have even learned not to stop at the yield signs!
- Comment on You can drive 74 hours and still be in Germany. The American mind can't comprehend this. 5 days ago:
Yeah, you can’t drive like a dangerous asshole on your way to park your full size truck based SUV across two handicap spots if you don’t have a car in the first place!
- Comment on Bill Burr Says Stop Blaming Immigrants, Blame Billionaires | SubwayTakes Uncut [13:16] 5 days ago:
Not everyone on TV, though.
- Comment on Since we're doing magic eyes now... 1 week ago:
I used to be able to do them at will, and even overlap images an additional time to get a crazy second level of shape.
But now I can’t, thanks to the american health insurance industry. yay!
- Comment on holee shiet 1 week ago:
Yeah it’s a funny joke, but this kind of shit actually works on people to an alarming degree.
I think it’s an extension of dunning-kruger, essentially. These dummies love “knowing” something that all those smug educated people that study it for a living somehow do not know. It’s something I see in my more conservative relatives too, the need to put others down to establish your legitimacy.
Even decades ago I remember hearing in conservative media the revelations that water vapor was a greenhouse gas, or that methane was, or that the sun goes through cycles, or that the earth’s orbit isn’t perfectly circular. Every single time it was discussed with the wonder of that brain exploding in space dude meme. Just flinging that confusion and doubt in all directions, knowing that each piece will probably be the thing that convinces part of the audience.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
The reasons the others gave are valid, but it’s also a cultural thing. We’re taught via pop culture that getting a jury duty summons, much like having to go to the DMV, is something to be dreaded. Like if it happens in a cartoon or a cheesy sitcom, there might be scary music that plays in the background while the character does a Darth Vader “noooooo.”
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
I bet so many of us have ADHD because the instant laser-point hyperfocus and blocking of all other stimuli helped our ancestors survive quite a few times.
And anxiety is obviously similar. Though in that case I think it’s more that we have evolved this skill for vigilance so that we can launch into fight or flight mode at a moment’s notice, but there are not the same constant dangers to monitor. So we essentially have an instinct to expect something bad to be coming at any moment, but it is uncalibrated and without meaningful environmental inputs it basically starts amplifying noise.
- Comment on Anon does some online shopping 1 week ago:
Gotcha. Something about what you said made it sound like the standard windows flavor to me.
Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten so used to running teams in a browser tab that its lagginess just feels like a slow loading webpage refresh, while the rest of the system’s GUI is flawless.
- Comment on Anon does some online shopping 1 week ago:
One thing I love about the Linux/FOSS world is that people work on software because they care about it. This leads to them focusing on parts of the system that users often also care about, rather than the parts that Product Management calculated could best grow engagement and revenue per user over the next quarter.
I’m not arguing that all these big frameworks and high level languages are bad, by the way. Making computers and programming accessible is a huge positive. I probably even use some of their inefficient creations that simply would not exist otherwise. And for many small or one-off applications, the time saved in programming is orders of magnitude higher than the time saved waiting on execution.
But when it comes to the most performance sensitive utilities and kernel code in my GNU plus Linux operating system, efficiency gets way more important and I’ll stick with the stuff that was forged and chiseled from raw C over decades by the greybeards.
- Comment on Anon does some online shopping 1 week ago:
That’s because in the Celeron 266-300A-350 days we overclockers were as gods! And if you had just moved from a modem connection to a university LAN connection like me, it was peak computer usage.
The way you describe performance then and now makes me wonder if you’re thinking mostly about running SUSE back then and if you’re talking about a Windows (Teams) machine now. I definitely remember things like the right-click menu taking forever to load sometimes on old windows & HDD based systems.
Using Linux on my work & home PCs now after being used to Windows on them first, they have that responsive feel back.
- Comment on Really?! 1 week ago:
I love to hear that it was received as intended!
Though I’ll also add one thing that HAS changed without me having to stop being decent to others or critical of myself (in a healthy way): Whether it’s something at work or at some, I have learned to blunt that urge to get somebody’s approval to do something before I do it. It’s a mix of some earned confidence, and of wanting to own my decisions, all in the context of teaching myself to be decisive and act rather than analyze and discuss with others while never doing anything.
And that last bit isn’t my inevitable turn back into the productivity-obsessed conservative asshole I was raised to be. It is self care after a lifetime of raw dogging ADHD. So the first part about being decisive and trusting my judgment is very true, but the second part about just doing anything is probably even moreso in my case. It includes getting things done that I desperately want to do for my personal life and well being. I have built so much shit this summer with my own two hands that my body has gun as much benefit as my mind.
- Comment on Self starter 1 week ago:
making mundane work unbearable.
Finding joy in the quiet time doing the mundane work I CARE about (lots of yard work, construction, and taking care of my animals) is some of the most important meditative-type time that I spend, I have learned.
It makes work more bearable to more enjoyable when I can find a similar mental state, listening to the same music, etc.
- Comment on Really?! 1 week ago:
8 years of college here. Three degrees! Also well over 2 decades of industry experience.
And I have good news. In 20 years you will probably still have impostor syndrome because you will probably still be a decent person who is willing to question themselves and isn’t an arrogant jerk. :>
- Comment on Grandma is on her own 2 weeks ago:
I think many people (USians in particular) need to have it described to them this simply.
It’s just assumed in so many situations that somebody’s right to enjoy their legally-acquired property supercedes any concerns about the life or suffering of others living in the same system.
- Comment on All downhill from there 2 weeks ago:
For some reason I read that as vimitiforum.
That place either has some heavy science discussion or some heavy kink discussion. Or maybe por que no los dos?
- Comment on Welcome to petty lane 2 weeks ago:
Again, that sounds good on paper. In reality, I turn into an on-ramp and I’m approaching a line of cars going 75 mph. There happens to be a sign that says they should be limiting themselves to 55 mph.
If I merge at 75mph, the state of the roadway is essentially unchanged. If I merge at 55mph, I am introducing a new risk that was not there previously.
- Comment on Welcome to petty lane 2 weeks ago:
That’s easy to agree with in isolation, but many times on the main roads near me the normal flow of traffic in the slow lane can be 20 over. Driving at or below the speed limit would create a significantly more dangerous situation than cruising along at the same speed as the nearest several cars.
Yeah, you’d be operating in a more legal way, and the faster drivers around you should be able to safely deal with it, but that doesn’t mean the risk isn’t there.
- Comment on Welcome to petty lane 2 weeks ago:
This one made me bust out laughing. Such a perfect combination.
The previous one is great too. Both new to me, at least.
- Comment on Welcome to petty lane 2 weeks ago:
I have some great news for you. Look at what took effect yesterday in my state! Using a mobile device, including at a red light, is now a primary offense (you’ll get pulled over for just that).
This just applies to PA, but it’s a pretty big state with a population between Sweden and the Netherlands, so it’s not nothing!
- Comment on Viewers like you 2 weeks ago:
Oh I absolutely do, neurospicy stranger! I have the kind that comes with crushing Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria too.
I’ve tried some non-Ritalin brands of slow release methylphenidate, plus tried some slow release adderall, but right now just taking two immediate-release adderall is doing the trick.
You should SEE the amount of shit I’ve built this summer. I even contribute at work sometimes, lol.
- Comment on Viewers like you 2 weeks ago:
Ah ok, thanks! A while back I tried Jornay, which is also time release methylphenidate. Now I am just on instant release adderall. Slow release didn’t work for that either. It’s like it takes too long in my system.
It’s good so far!
I’m in the US with the typical high deductible health insurance you get from an employer in a professional office job. But I’m also in a unique situation where the treatment for a different condition of mine is so expensive that the drug company pays your deductible. So it’s almost like I have really good insurance that covers everything.
- Comment on Viewers like you 2 weeks ago:
Wow, that matches my experience exactly.
I’m curious if you’re willing to share what the medication is in your case.
- Comment on Anon loves The Lord of the Rings 2 weeks ago:
🤜🤛
I’ll add that I have a kid too, and that is the kind of relationship in your life that can really teach you how stupid you are to worry about “wasting” time with them you could do something productive or work extra.
The relationship CAN do that. Potentially. God damn are a lot of people horrible to their own children.
- Comment on Anon loves The Lord of the Rings 2 weeks ago:
Fortunately in my case it is spending time on things that I want to be working on, and which is therapeutic and healthy for me. Part of a realization in my mental health and “wtf is life” journey was that even though I think I want to have unlimited free time to just chill, having obligations that I enjoy and look forward to produces better results. After being medicated enough to have some energy and executive function of course.
I hope you get to do the same before long!
- Comment on Anon loves The Lord of the Rings 2 weeks ago:
Oh nice, thanks for coming back and replying!
Back on that day I did go check out the store page for it. It looks pretty dang good!
I’ve been spending all my free time busy with stuff other than gaming recently, but once there’s some down time due to completed projects or bad weather I’m going to look into this more.
- Comment on EVERYBODY IS DOING SOMETHING 2 weeks ago:
That depends on what you mean by proven.
Time dilation is easily measured and it’s essential for things like GPS to adjust for it. And we finally got that picture of a black hole recently where you can see the light from behind the black hole wrapping around. I think it was Sagittarius A*?
- Comment on Gravity 2 weeks ago:
But can electromagnetism at all emerge if the quantum mechanics dont exist to emerge things like magnetism and some of the behavior of electrons?
Well yeah, sure. Earlier you said something like “electromagentism is caused by quantum phenomena,” but you can say that about almost every object and behavior in the universe! We don’t have a theory of everything but the standard model and quantum field theory explain a lot.
- Comment on We really don't want to talk about our problems 2 weeks ago:
Damn, that is well said. This sentence in particular:
We are losing our respect for the profound, our empathy for the other, and our curiosity for the unknown.
is the kind of thing that sounds like an empty platitude when your mind/life is in a bad state, but after a few years of progress and healing I read that line and wish I could adequately express the years of reflection and learning that can be distilled down to such a short statement.