canis_majoris

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

Yes, transporters were originally made to avoid the high production costs of models, which would have been necessary to use for shuttles back then.

Very smart imo.

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

The Traveler!

Shows up, warps the crew to the center of the galaxy, refuses to elaborate.

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

Atmosphere got ionizing radiation, yo

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

I dunno man, LD is like half fan service and half universe building, and it’s my favorite thing they’ve produced in the last decade and a half.

Can we just get Mike McMahan in charge of everything, please?

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

I am very aware of Kurtzman’s influence on the franchise. I think he’s not the right guy to be in charge. It really feels like this is a Dave Filoni/Kathleen Kennedy situation but in Star Trek.

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

I wouldn’t say mishandled but I would say both Disco and Picard’s first two seasons were incredibly sloppy due to a clear lack of planning, vision, and the difficulty of transitioning to a fully serialized format.

By contrast Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds were really able to find their footing quickly because they had season-wide arcs but outside of that they were generally episodic and allowed for a lot more exploration of the core of the universe. This is just a better format for the franchise in my opinion.

I find Kurtzman is occupied with making the series more cinematic than it needs to be. Overly cinematic Star Trek results in eye bleeding lightshows like the finale of Disco S2, while grounding the shows a bit more allows for more character growth and development. You can’t just always have Sacrifice of Angels all the time, you need to cut it with some Take Me Out to The Holosuite.

canis_majoris , 2 days ago

Sure, the fanservice can be a lot.

My main thing is just that it’s clear how much McMahan loves the source material and it’s great how he can operate within the parameters of the universe with reverence despite being jocular.

canis_majoris , 3 days ago

SNW rocks. I’ll follow Pike and the crew anywhere.

canis_majoris , 3 days ago

We can replace the words “magic” with “strongly telepathic” and it’s basically the same problem.

It’s a great idea to fuck warp travel right on its head as a concept, but the execution was majorly lacking for me. I would have much rather had a continuation of the plot from Force of Nature where warp had significantly damaged subspace gradually (like a climate change allegory), rather than a universe-wide explosion that happened all at once in a flash.

canis_majoris , 3 days ago

I think putting the face onto the source is what made it lose the value, unfortunately.

My comparison is what they did with the Borg and the Queen. Wolf 359 is a terrifying, tragic ordeal, made all the more serious by the fact that it was done by one cube that could not be negotiated or reasoned with. As soon as the Borg had a way to negotiate and reason, they became less scary because they had understandable motives and goals that could be bargained with, as excellently demonstrated by Janeway.

Ultimately, I agree with you that it’s kind of more of a TOS-y sort of plot device. I do feel like back then they really followed the science being indistinguishable from magic logic, and we’ve progressed over time to wanting more hard and serious technobabble. I think that’s kind of a disconnect for me, personally, is that they had to dip into a serious explanation for something that effectively functions like magic.

canis_majoris , 5 days ago

Tell me you didn’t read the article without telling me you didn’t read the article.

canis_majoris , 7 days ago

Interesting. I didn’t know there was an Arch-based atomic distro. This is really rad.

If I wasn’t already happy with Bazzite and immutable Fedora-based distros, I’d definitely take a more serious look.

canis_majoris , 10 days ago

Yeah, but it doesn’t come standard on these devices. It’s literally just a full install of 11, with Teams and everything.

canis_majoris , 10 days ago

Yeah, the Windows handhelds are basically glorified laptops. This was kind of the approach with the ROG ALLY anyways with the XGM port, allowing connection to an eGPU enclosure with up to a 4090 inside. It just runs a full blown version of Windows and you can even put on a pro license and do dumb shit like have WSL or Hyper-V available on the device.

I have a ROG ALLY and I’ve debloated it to hell, but it’ll never match the power savings I would achieve if it was Linux-based.

I’ve been following Chimera and Bazzite on their progression for developing distros for the Windows handhelds, but it’s going to be a while before they will be fully viable on any handhelds.

Steam will always be ahead because they control the hardware and the software and they are able to fine tune the software to their very specific hardware, which is simply not happening for the Windows handhelds.

canis_majoris , 23 days ago

Most of them, honestly.

When you look back, it was cool what they were doing at the time, but progress is such that all newer games have iterated on those groundbreaking formulas and improved upon them, making the older games seem less spectacular than they were at launch. I have fond memories of playing PS2, N64 and Dreamcast, but when I go back to play some of those games I enjoyed as a kid, I find that there’s always something super sub-optimal like the controls or some arcane mechanic that doesn’t make much sense. I find this to be the consistent issue going back to PS2 era and earlier.

I think the PS3/360 era is the one I have the most nostalgia for all things considered. There were a lot of stellar RPGs like KOTOR and Mass Effect that generation. Stuff like Red Dead Redemption was coming out. Control schemes finally became generally standardized and understandable. Tutorials, saves and decent graphics were really finally all combined properly for the first time.

I find the same sort of issue with movies. When you go back passed the 80s, you start hitting pacing issues. Same with video games. When you go back passed the mid-2000s, you’re going to run into early installment weirdness.

canis_majoris , 23 days ago

I agree.

Even using my examples of KOTOR and ME, comparing them to (relatively) modern counterparts, Jedi Survivor and Andromeda, you can see that the storytelling has taken a back seat to the open world. ME 1-3 were all very tight corridor cover shooters, going from fully constructed combat environment to another, while Andromeda tried to shoehorn in survival crafting and exploration. KOTOR has more deep RPG mechanics and overall a better story than Jedi Survivor, and I would agree it’s because the focus changed on providing sprawling open worlds over more bespoke environments. I would also say that the combat in Andromeda and Jedi Survivor are superior to their older counterparts, but at the loss of other things.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

On paper the Intel processor is much better than the Zen 1 Extreme chip, but lack of optimizations remains the main bottleneck.

I knew Intel would incrementally improve the support for the device, because we saw how they handled the Arc cards. They were not great at first but then a driver update was pushed that increased efficacy by almost double bringing the cards on par with low and mid-rangers from the other manufacturers.

Hopefully Intel’s support improves more and the field becomes additionally competitive.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago (edited 24 days ago)

There are a few projects like Bazzite and Chimera which have versions for desktops and other handhelds, but they’re not really at maturity yet for the handhelds other than the Steam Deck.

Since they’re all running AMD hardware, what I anticipate is that eventually the Linux variants designed for them will be significantly more optimal for the devices, much more than the bullshit full Windows install. You do lose out on Gamepass games though, but that’s pretty much the only thing you gain by going Windows in the first place.

I compromised with my ROG Ally and ran a bunch of debloating scripts so I could have my Gamepass games available. I would rather be running Bazzite on it, which runs excellently on my laptop. It requires some funky BIOS fuckery to achieve basic functionality right now though, so it’s definitely a project to undertake later.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

I am pretty sure the entire library is not available to stream, but you can install all of it on Windows. Bazzite is also not fully compliant with the hardware yet.

There’s a list of problems and workarounds, but it’s listed as gold rating which is better than a lot of other handhelds. I would not be able to stand the LEDs being at full brightness all the time, it would infuriate me.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

The same amount of fools who created the largest civilian surveillance network with Ring doorbells.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

TSMC equipment only has the materials to function for about two weeks before needing a shipment of replacement parts for the fabs when they wear out.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

It does. Apple has Rosetta and Microsoft has Prism. They are effectively the same thing, being a translation layer for x86 to ARM.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

Microsoft has a translation layer like Rosetta. It’s called Prism.

canis_majoris , 24 days ago

I think you are misunderstanding the article.

Windows for ARM is designed specifically for ARM, and it has the translation layer. The translation layer effectively allows it to function as if it’s running an x86 Windows install off the bat by offering the ability to run x86 applications on the ARM hardware. It’s not actually running an x86 OS.

The chipset is very powerful but it doesn’t require additional hardware to achieve this translation. The additional processing power built into these chips are NPUs (Neural Processing Units) which are designed to more effectively run ML/AI/LLM workloads. The translation system just works on the normal raw processing power of the machine, just the same as the M-series Macs.

canis_majoris , 29 days ago (edited 29 days ago)

There are easier ways to spy on your employees. This is not cost-effective.

I use Zoom for work now and each call can be several gigabytes large, depending on resolution of shared materials and a few other factors. If you want to save that kind of stuff long term, you have to pay to keep it somewhere. If you multiply several gigabytes over a few dozen calls a day, you’re going to end up with terabytes of garbage you need to store. Zoom also informs you of when a recording is starting and active, offering for you to leave the call or otherwise implicitly agree to being recorded. You have to pay for all these things because there’s a significant amount of processing power involved. It’s not like it’s free to run facial recognition and speech recognition.

When I did contract work for Apple support, the spying was way more efficient than just listening to my calls. My supervisor could literally always see my monitor through the chat program we had installed. There’s all kinds of remote software for things like this. If an admin wants to see you misuse your equipment, they have easier ways of finding out than sifting through calls to find wrongthink.

canis_majoris , 29 days ago (edited 29 days ago)

Again, there are easier ways to do this.

Biometric authentication can be required for some companies. You’d have to opt in to use the system or at least agree to the terms set forth by the employer. This kind of stuff doesn’t just get collected just because; it’s pretty sensitive data.

What you’re talking about is a cyberpunk nightmare; some corporate-assisted mass surveillance designed for like, union busting.

If you’re making vocal and facial profiles of employees you must have some reason to do so, and it can’t just be to burn cash. Like I said before, this stuff costs money, and it’s kind of pointless unless you’re using it in a way that makes money, selling the data somehow.

canis_majoris , 30 days ago

There’s a transaction limit on tap payments. Sometimes you need to chip or swipe when it’s over $250 or something.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

Cool but is there a better source on this than “I fucking love science”?

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

Going after the one person still interested in Marvel content? Bold move, Disney; we’ll see how it pans out.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I’ve heard great things, and I’ve been watching the original run of the X-Men animated series in preparation for watching '97.

Animation tends to get me more hyped than anything else. They always do crazy shit in cartoons that they never really try to do in live action. I’ve been a big fan of all the DC animated stuff since forever, and Marvel is getting back into the game with a really strong entry with '97.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I really like The Drumhead from TNG. It establishes the nature of Star Trek at its most essential. It’s mostly a talking episode, although there’s some action with an explosion, which is perfectly average to me. It gives you a feel of the dynamics of some of the politics in the universe, which I think is a great way to get people involved. It’s got one one of those great Picard speeches that puts a badmiral in their place, solving the problem non-violently. It’s also a great parallel to any slippery slope security tightening after a major event happens, which is basically always a timeless message of avoiding overreaching authoritarianism at all costs.

Another TNG one I’d pick is probably The Ensigns of Command. It’s another example of an episode that’s mostly talking, a little bit of action, with a non-violent resolution. It’s fun watching Picard come up with inane legal bullshit to deal with the very strictly by the books alien species, satisfying their requirements in a way that meets his agenda while also being within the rules.

Honestly, I could rationalize different episodes all day, but since those were the first two that came to mind, I’ll just leave them at that.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I used to play against the computer as the particle weapons general, build up a massive defensive perimeter, build a bunch of particle cannons, and then draw dicks in the enemy base with the laser.

It’s one of my favorite games of all time.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

Don’t forget about the new Snapdragon X series. I heard they were pretty good, on par and better than M3s.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I’m tired of all this news about Drake. The news should be that his career is over, not all this interest in his stupid rap beefs against superior artists.

He’s literally a pedophile and he jury rigged Tupac’s voice with AI to defend himself. It’s fuckling disgusting.

Guy was texting Millie Bobby Brown when she was like 14 and he was well into his 30s. He also made out with and groped a 17 year old on stage after confirming her age and doing it anyways. Drake is a massive fucking creep.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

You can enable REBAR on older machines with a UEFI hack.

It’s been part of the PCI spec for ages but Nvidia and AMD only started using it recently.

You can check out the tool here.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

Lemmy has a serious sourcing issue, just across the board.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

It’s human nature!

https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/73d34b4d-74bf-4245-9e5a-30b6601de921.jpeg

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I agree with the Arc cards.

They are good, they are cheap, and they’re targeting the midrange to low-end hardware segment which is not covered by any other manufacturer.

I have a 3090 in my desktop but I have an Arc card on my server for Moonlight/Sunshine streaming, as well as Plex transcoding. It’s the cheapest card to have AV1 encoding built in.

I also keep seeing them increase performance significantly with every driver update, which is pretty cool.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

The new dedicated cards are actually very good. They sell them at a competitive price because they are not powerhouses, but they get the job done. If you’re targeting 1080p at your top end, it’s almost a no-brainer to go with an Arc card. If you’re pushing a higher resolution, it’s probably better to go with another manufacturer, unless you’re fine with higher resolutions and lower framerates.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

I had a 1050ti in the machine and I bought an A770. It’s overpowered for transcoding but I do remotely stream games at 1080p, which is a good workout for the card.

For simple transcoding I would buy the A310 since it’s the cheapest card with AV1. I’m running an old 6th Gen i7-6600k and I had to mess with the UEFI to allow REBAR, but I used this tool to do it.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

Behold, Plato’s man!

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I think this is the apex of shitposting. Thank you.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

I followed a bunch of artists and content creators and I got annoyed when the entire feed became just interspersed with Musk’s ramblings and bullshit. I never followed him and I didn’t want promoted content.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

SA used to be great. That move actually made the forums a pretty good place for a while because it kept out a few demographics including bots and kids.

Something Awful, YTMND and Newgrounds were basically the comedic engines of the internet back then.

Good 'ol pre-YouTube internet.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

RCS is a carrier feature.

The centralization exists with iMessage because only iPhones can use the protocol. By fall of 2024 RCS will be adopted by iPhones as well.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

This sounds like a problem exclusive to the United States. In Canada all of our carriers still provide RCS. Rogers was one of the first major telcoms to implement RCS country-wide for Androids prior to the major rollout elsewhere.

Additionally, RCS is a generally open standard that can be adopted by anyone and implemented by any carrier. Google only runs their RCS back-end when carriers are unwilling or unable to do so, like in other regions worldwide. RCS is interoperable and even if it’s a system being used by Google, it’s an open standard. Apple were the ones not allowing the interoperability here, and causing the centralization.

canis_majoris , 1 month ago

You also don’t have to worry about it fucking disappearing on you unless you have a drive failure.