mic_check_one_two
@mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
- Comment on We're going backwards 1 day ago:
Yeah, I’ve done the black light check at hotels before. I was pleasantly surprised.
One tip though: They don’t usually change the top comforter in between guests. They’ll typically change the sheets, but the comforter is only changed on a regular (typically weekly) schedule. But they’ll be happy to change it for you if you ask.
- Comment on We're going backwards 1 day ago:
Just an FYI, since privacy seems to be a big concern for you… AirBnB used to allow hosts to hide cameras inside of their rented spaces. It was explicitly allowed in their renting rules, under the premise of allowing owners to enforce rules and collect evidence in case of excessive mess/damage/theft. They banned hidden cameras in 2024, but over half of rental owners still admit to using them, and about half of all guests still report finding one inside of their rented spaces if they bother to look.
- Comment on Is it normal to be really sentimental/upset over a bowl I accidentally smashed? I had it since I was 17 (am 30 now) and my boyfriend was alive back then too. 1 week ago:
I recently moved, and had to throw away a lot of stuff that I couldn’t reasonably take with me. I was fine for most of it, but got really sentimental over a plant. It was just a dumb plant that was barely clinging to life, but I had it the entire time I lived at my previous place. Throwing that scrappy half-dead plant out felt like throwing away a friend. I literally said goodbye to it at the dumpster.
- Comment on Busted box inside of a pristine Amazon box 1 week ago:
Sure, the “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” whataboutism. It isn’t any individual person’s fault for being forced to participate in capitalism. But it is their fault for not taking reasonable steps to minimize their harm. The difficult part of the conversation is that every single person will have a different definition of what “reasonable” means. For some, it means avoiding the obviously evil megacorps. On the other end of the spectrum, some may think it essentially means going capitalist-vegan and reverting back to scavenging and subsistence farming in their parents’ back yard.
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
What you aren’t arguing for anywhere in this comment is that every artist be required to do these things. Somehow game developers are exempt from this grace? Why are all games required to accommodate people, but other art isn’t? Why is that where your line is drawn?
Quite the opposite. I fully believe that if art can be accessible, it should be. That’s why I listed things like 3D scans for oils, descriptive services, or textiles and sculptures that people can feel.
And things like ASL interpreters are legally required by law, and we as the venue can be sued if we refuse to make reasonable efforts to accommodate them. We can’t even charge those patrons extra for tickets, despite the fact that the ASL interpreter is more expensive than the entire price of their ticket. If they request it within a reasonable timeframe, we are legally obligated to hire an interpreter for the show that the patron will be at, even though we know we will lose money on it. We can’t even ask for proof that the person is deaf, because that would put an undue burden on the person with the disability; We just have to take them at their word, and hire the ASL interpreter on blind faith that they’re not forcing us to spend money extraneously.
We also have hearing assist devices integrated into our sound system, for the HoH patrons who just need a private audio feed. We can provide either wireless headphones, or a magnetic loop which hearing aids can tune into. So they have the option of controlling the volume directly with headphones, or using the hearing aids they already have and like. That cost is taken on entirely by the venue, because it allows those HoH patrons to get a similar experience as the rest of the audience. Because (again) the law requires that we make reasonable accommodations to ensure every patron (including those with disabilities) gets an equivalent experience.
People with disabilities shouldn’t be excluded from art simply because it is extra effort to accommodate them. Accessibility isn’t something that should be optional, because it helps everyone eventually. Would you argue against accessibility ramps for building entrances, because it would ruin the architect’s artistic vision for a grand staircase? Would you argue against subtitles for a movie, because it would take up screen space that the director had intentionally used for action? Would you argue against Velcro or bungie-lace shoes, because the fashion designers had flat laces in mind when they designed it? Would you argue against audiobooks for blind people, because the author is dead and couldn’t collaborate to choose a narrator that fit their artistic vision? No? So why is other art required to take reasonable steps to provide accommodations, but video games aren’t? Why is that where your line is drawn?
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
That’s a pretty ignorant take. I work in a music venue and art gallery as an event planner and curator. I personally know three blind painters who consistently blow me away with what they are able to produce.
One has tunnel vision, and can see an area about the size of a quarter held at arms’ length. He tends to work with textiles and wood carvings, which he can feel.
The second can see shades of brightness, but very little color; she primarily works in shades of grey or sepia.
The third went fully blind in his 20’s due to a degenerative condition. He grew up with full vision, and started painting when he could see. Then he had to adapt later in life as his vision degenerated. He uses paint thinner to thin out the various colors to different consistencies, so he can feel which colors are where. I have one of his prints hanging on my office wall right now, and it is absolutely breathtaking even before you learn he’s fucking blind.
Art galleries have taken steps to make things like paintings accessible to blind patrons. 3D scans of paintings allow people to feel the paint layers on printed busts. Artists like Van Gogh used paint texture as an inherent part of their piece, and galleries have attempted to turn that into a tactile experience. You haven’t truly seen Starry Night until you have seen it in person, (or at least seen a 3D scan of it). Flat prints simply don’t do it justice.
And we get deaf/HoH patrons at concerts all the time. They enjoy the crowd experience, and they can feel the beat via vibration. Hell, I just organized a concert for next week, where we have an ASL interpreter. Deaf/HoH people regularly have music fucking blaring on kick ass sound systems. They may be able to hear certain parts of it if it’s loud enough, or maybe they just enjoy the beat. But regardless of the reason, they absolutely can enjoy music.
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
Video games are the only art medium where people find it acceptable to gate-keep the art from the unskilled or the disabled.
Imagine buying a movie ticket, then the theater goes “no you aren’t good enough at watching movies to watch this movie. You only get to see the first 10 minutes. It just isn’t for you.” Imagine paying to go to a museum, and they tell you “sorry, you are only allowed to look at the art in the foyer because you aren’t good enough to enter the rest of the museum.”
Difficulty settings are primarily accessibility options. Don’t want the game to be too easy? Don’t fucking turn down the difficulty.
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
Take it a step further, and require optional direction indicators. Not only do you get click on screen. You also get a little arrow pointing to which direction it came from. I have several friends with a bad ear. They can hear fine out of one ear, but not the other. That direction indicator allows them to track sound cues that would otherwise be useless to them.
The newer God of War games were pretty good about this, for instance. There were collectable crows, which were usually found via sound cues; they would loudly caw for you to be able to track them down before you saw them. But if you only have one good ear, you can’t tell which direction the sound is coming from. The direction indicator bridges that gap.
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
Allow me to turn off the stupid pre-launch splash titles.
I can guarantee that those splash titles are included because of contractual obligations. The same way a movie lists the publishing companies in the intro. Oh, you want us to publish your game? We can require the game designer to show our logo for {x} seconds when the game launches. Oh, you want your game to be G-Sync compatible? Nvidia can require that you show their logo for at least {x} seconds when the game launches. Oh, you want to use our game engine to build your game? Unreal can require that you show their logo for {x} seconds when the game launches. Et cetera…
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
Yeah, you should be able to pick a specific version number for single player games. I’m fine with it defaulting to “latest”, but at least give me the option to stick to a specific version.
Also, fuck the “Would you like to share all data with the publisher, or only limited data” bullshit. It’s a single player game with no multiplayer whatsoever. I shouldn’t need to share any data with the publisher.
- Comment on Settings you believe ANY game should have? (This is me advocating for a restart/reboot button on ALL games) 2 weeks ago:
Cutscenes especially. The pause button should pause cutscenes, with an option to skip the cutscene on the pause menu. The pause button should never just outright skip the cutscene. It should always pause the cutscene.
- Comment on Standardization rule 2 weeks ago:
Yup. Not only are the materials entirely unregulated… So are the labels. A company can stick a “Made with 100% pure medical-grade silicone” on the box, even if they know it’s not true.
That’s why there are independent toy reviewers. The companies send a few toys to the reviewer, who does destructive testing on them. IIRC, most testers require at least three of the same toy for a full test. They’ll do things like light the toy on fire, (the presence/color of smoke and if/how it melts tells the tester if it’s pure silicone, or if there are harmful additives), attempt to break/rip/crush it (to confirm tensile/compressive strength is adequate), etc… And yes, they’ll also use the toy to review how well it works.
- Comment on This whole exchange 2 weeks ago:
Yeah, I’ve said for a long time that lots of modern Christianity is just retellings of older mythology. For example, the story of Lucifer is the story of Prometheus told through an Abrahamic lens. When Christianity was trying to get off the ground, the Christians needed ways to relate to modern audiences. And modern audiences at the time were largely comprised of Greco-Roman working class, who were already intimately familiar with that existing mythology.
- Comment on The ancient Greeks or Chinese should have already had words for this. 2 weeks ago:
Memories are more like the feelings and senses associated with the memory, alongside a narration of what happened. Like if I had a fight and had to recount it to police, I’d think of how I moved, where I was hit, what kinds of sounds and smells there were, etc. alongside a sort of fight announcer narrating the fight like a boxing match.
- Comment on The ancient Greeks or Chinese should have already had words for this. 2 weeks ago:
I’m a 5. Dreams are fine. As realistic as I want them to be.
- Comment on Gaming Pet Peeves 2 weeks ago:
Far Cry 5 was the fucking worst with this. Every single thing you did added to a sort of “story progress” bar. And when it filled, you were forcibly dragged away to do a story mission. They literally sleep-darted you from off screen, and had you wake up at the start of the story mission. Like you couldn’t make a more comically overdone “get forced to do story mission” scenario if you tried.
The devs said it was because they wanted to avoid that he Skyrim Syndrome, where players quickly forget about the main story in favor of all of the side content. But the implementation resulted in player agency taking a cudgel to the teeth every few hours.
- Comment on Gaming Pet Peeves 2 weeks ago:
Especially when there is some kind of “open every treasure chest” type of achievement, with one or two things locked out. So if you miss them in your initial playthrough, you’re completely locked out of that achievement until you replay it from the beginning.
- Comment on Gaming Pet Peeves 2 weeks ago:
Yeah, I particularly hate when crafting mechanics get shoehorned into a game, simply because market studies told the publisher that games with crafting sell better. Especially when the crafting system is clearly an afterthought, and the game is entirely unbalanced as a result of it.
For example, the game had crafting added after the inventory system was designed. And crafting doesn’t really become viable until near the end of the game, because it requires a wide variety of materials and you only have access to half of them for the first half of the game. So now you’re drowning in crafting materials that are taking up inventory space/weight for the entire first half of the game.
Another example, devs had an end game build in mind, but decided to lock it behind 35 hours of crafting material grinding. Crafting isn’t really used for anything else in the game, but the end game builds all require a ton of extra grind, with obscure materials hidden behind rare or secret enemy drops. The only purpose is to artificially inflate the playtime, so the publisher can claim the game has “over 100 hours of gameplay” in the ads.
Another example, devs were told to add crafting after the game’s equipment was balanced. In order to encourage players to actually use the crafting system, it is full of super overpowered gear that completely wipes the floor with anything else in the game. Or inversely, the devs didn’t want you to be able to grind materials for gear before you were “supposed” to have it, so all of the crafting gear is subpar at best.
That shit has ruined so many single player games that were otherwise fine.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
Fair pricing means a reasonable profit on the base cost.
Under many circumstances, this is true. However, console makers have historically sold consoles either at or slightly below cost, expecting to make their real profits on game sales, online store sales, etc… In the business world, it’s called a loss leader. Meaning it’s something popular that the company takes a loss on, while expecting it to encourage more sales elsewhere.
The classic grocery store example is a rotisserie chicken. You can go get a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli for like $3. It’s so cheap because the store is selling it at a loss. It’s a loss leader. Very few people will simply buy the chicken by itself. Instead, they’ll buy a tub of potato salad, some roasted corn, a can of green beans, and a gallon jug of sweet tea to go along with it. By selling that chicken at a slight loss, they were able to get the customer to buy all of those other things at a profit.
That being said, Valve has already stated that they’re not planning on having the Machine be a loss leader. Which is why people expect it to cost as much as a prebuilt with similar specs.
- Comment on Racism restaurant 2 weeks ago:
I mean, isn’t all cheese just dried cheese sauce?
- Comment on Racism restaurant 2 weeks ago:
Yup. Some brands may mix other cheeses in for taste, but it’s basically just those two cheeses and an emulsifier. A little bit of butter may help them melt more smoothly too, but it depends on how dry the cheddar is to begin with. Younger cheddars will melt easier, and may not need butter at all.
- Comment on Racism restaurant 2 weeks ago:
American cheese is just mild cheddar and colby jack, with an emulsifier added to help it blend together and melt smoothly. You can literally make bootleg American cheese by shredding the two together, adding an emulsifier (like sodium citrate) and heating until they melt.
That same emulsifier is what makes it so good for burgers. Aged cheddar tends to melt into clumps, and tends to get greasy as the milk fat separates out of the solids. The emulsifier helps the cheese solids and oils stay together, making it less clumpy and greasy.
- Comment on What is your favorite Metroidvania? 2 weeks ago:
+1 for the Castlevania Aria/Dawn of Sorrow games. The Soma Cruz games were where the series truly hit its peak.
Portrait of Ruin was alright. I enjoyed that they found a way to incorporate more varied environments into the series.
Order of Ecclesia took me a while to start enjoying. The weird hybrid 3D graphics threw me off at first. Once I got past that, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- Comment on What is your favorite Metroidvania? 2 weeks ago:
I wanted to enjoy this game, but it gave me hardcore motion sickness after about 10 minutes. I haven’t had that happen in very many games, so it was notable in this one.
- Comment on Ahead of her time 2 weeks ago:
Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos. She was sentenced to prison for defrauding investors. She started making claims that she could do exactly what the headline says. She claimed that current blood panels (which usually require a vial of blood for each test) were insufficient and outdated, and that her company could predict or diagnose a ton of diseases and disorders with only a pinprick of blood. She said that her company was already in the final stages of the research, and used those claims to entice investors. She said that her company was going to be on the forefront of a medical revolution, and investors were clambering to get in before they hit the market.
It turns out she was full of shit, was lying through her teeth, the technology didn’t exist, and they couldn’t diagnose anything with the tiny amount of blood she claimed. Medical professionals had been screaming about the fraud for a long time, but techbros and billionaires were happy to continue jumping on the bandwagon because she kept promising results in the near future. When the fraud finally came to light, Theranos’ valuation went from ~$9B to $0 basically overnight. It was a massive “she stole from billionaires, so we’re making an example of her and actually prosecuting the white collar crime that never gets prosecuted” court case that started way back in the mid 2010’s. It only recently wrapped up a few years ago (I think in late 2022 or early 2023?) and she’s still serving time.
- Comment on How has there not yet been a leak of the Epstein files? Surely there is someone with access to them that could have been subject to worldwide pressure to let something out. 3 weeks ago:
Yeah, the government’s big shift from “spy on our citizens” to “create a private corporation and pay them to spy on our citizens” was largely driven by public scrutiny. Governments realized that people were watching what they did online. And rather than stop encroaching on peoples’ privacy, the various governments simply shifted towards hiring private contractors to do it for them.
A giant “Spy Agency To Definitely Spy On All Of Our Own Citizens: Fifty Bajillion Dollars” line item on the government budget looks bad when lawmakers go to vote on it. But that same fifty bajillion dollars allocated to “Private Government Contractor 19452046” looks a lot better on paper.
- Comment on How has there not yet been a leak of the Epstein files? Surely there is someone with access to them that could have been subject to worldwide pressure to let something out. 3 weeks ago:
Yeah, the Snowden leaks didn’t change a ton for the end users… But it was a big kick in the pants for the site admins, programmers, database admins, etc who build all of the internet’s infrastructure.
- Comment on How has there not yet been a leak of the Epstein files? Surely there is someone with access to them that could have been subject to worldwide pressure to let something out. 3 weeks ago:
Yes and no. The vast majority are just script kiddies who want to be edgy. The real power (and drawback) of Anonymous lies in the fact that anyone can claim to be a part of it. Anyone can hack something, then attribute it to Anonymous.
The reason Anonymous doesn’t get more huge public hacks is because the people doing the hacking largely aren’t interested in giving attribution to some giant faceless organization that didn’t help with the hack. It’s sort of a catch-22, where anyone can claim to be Anonymous, but the venn diagram of “really good black hat hackers” and “people who are willing to give credit to some faceless organization that hasn’t helped them at all” is two almost entirely separate circles. The best black hat hackers largely aren’t interested in it, because they’re hacking for money or prestige, not politics.
- Comment on be a friend to the animals 3 weeks ago:
Remove the laugh track, and Ross is a full blown narcissistic sociopath… The only person he seems to genuinely care about is his son, Ben… But even Ben seems to vanish in the later seasons. There are fan theories that Ross completely abandoned Ben (or that Carol and Susan took full custody because Ross was always such a prick) after Emma was born. Phoebe is a manipulative bitch who uses quirkiness as an excuse to toy with people.
Rachel is a spoiled disorganized mess, who’s need for attention compelled her to constantly keep Ross on a leash without letting him get too close. She broke up with a dude, got her feelings hurt when he had a rebound, then constantly held it over his head after they got back together. When he got tired of it and found someone else, she crashed their wedding in the hopes that he would leave his fiancée at the altar. Chandler regularly uses sarcasm to poke at his friends’ insecurities and belittle them, and masks all of his insecurities with self-deprecating humor instead of actually working to better himself.
Monica’s obsessive need for control regularly leads her to manipulate or bully others, and consistently overshadows her empathy.Joey was too good for the rest of the characters. His only real emotional flaw was that he never really had any deep romantic connections. But that was largely because he was more into the hookup culture, and he reserved his attempts at deeper romance for the few partners he really got along with. He never tried to hide the fact that he was a playboy, even around the women he was sleeping with. He was an idiot, but he at least cared for and about the other main characters, in a way that none of them ever seemed to reciprocate.
Also, the show was ultimately about six rich white people, who occasionally cosplayed as relatable lower middle class folk. In a city as diverse as NYC, you would have to work to find a city block so completely deprived of melanin. The series was 10 seasons long, and black people only had speaking roles in like 25 episodes… And a lot of those were because Ross and Joey dated the same black woman for like 10 episodes in the last season. They also very clearly lived in a nice part of the city, (some have estimated that Monica’s apartment would run for ~$3-4M when the show was airing) and their financial struggles were only ever superficial to make them more relatable.
- Comment on Uh oh: Ubisoft postpones its quarterly financial report at the last minute and halts stock trading 3 weeks ago:
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