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thatKamGuy

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thatKamGuy ,

I honestly think it will not live up to the levels of hype that the community will build itself up to.

Coupled with my suspicion that the single-player game will be as barebones as possible, with the goal of funnelling as many players into the next iteration of GTA:Online as quickly as possible, to sell more Shark Cards.

The good news is that in the end I’ll either be proven right, or pleasantly surprised.

thatKamGuy ,

I’m still using an Apple Watch 3 that I got in a bundle with my iPhone X from my telco.

I need to charge it twice a day for ~30 minutes each, but it’s still chugging along.

I think I’ll finally upgrade to the new generation this year, but at that point it will be 7 years old - which is commendable for tech.

thatKamGuy ,

There are a lot of legitimate reasons to hate on Apple, but not supporting their products long-term is not one of them.

Eventually they stop providing new OS updates, but they don’t brick/abandon devices.

Hell, I turned on my old iPhone 5 recently for the first time in over a decade and it happily connected to Apple’s servers and updated to the last supported OS version.

Even now that my Apple Watch isn’t receiving any more major OS updates, it can still interact with my up-to-date iPhone 14 without any issues.

thatKamGuy ,

If/when it happens, so be it - I’ll eat crow. But for the time being, Apple at least has long set/surpassed the standard for support lifetimes.

At some point, you just have to have a little bit of faith that not every company is going to immediately screw you over the first chance they get; otherwise you’ll never end up buying anything (new or otherwise), with the fear that the moment you do - they’ll drop support.

I mean, some companies do deserve that level of scepticism - but honestly, for all their other faults Apple is not one of them.

thatKamGuy ,

Well, at least you can expect it to be a long supported, overpriced accessory! 🤣

thatKamGuy ,

Wouldn’t it make more sense to alias out each place you submit an email address to, so you can see who sells your contact details or otherwise gets hacked?

Eg: [email protected], [email protected] etc.?

thatKamGuy , (edited )

Wait, isn’t this just the plot of that Sam* Rockwell movie - Moon?

iPad Pro with M4 chip boasts impressive performance jump compared to just-released M3 MacBook Air (9to5mac.com)

On raw performance might, the M4 really does live up to Apple’s promises, should deliver. Single core is up about 20% compared to all M3 chips and more than 40% compared to M2. The generational computational leap from the previous M2 iPad Pro is at least a 42% jump on single-core and multi-core.

thatKamGuy ,

In general, I would love for any OEM to step in and provide similar build quality to a Mac… doesn’t even have to be Lenovo (who IMO are a pale imitation of IBM’s line of laptops).

thatKamGuy ,

Because the side that benefits from voter apathy is relying on that exact ‘wall of noise’ media coverage to disenfranchise enough voters to get their preferred candidate in.

The amount of damage that Trump was able to inflict upon the United States in his term (3 Supreme Court picks, countless lower court picks); he will deliver a killing blow if given the opportunity.

As hyperbolic as it sounds, this could very well be the least legitimate Presidential election should he succeed.

“Both Sides Bad” is a 4Chan-level talking point concocted by the right, to obfuscate all the good that has been implemented over the past four years - even without all the roadblocks the GOP keeps putting in the way.

thatKamGuy ,

Democracy is fragile, and requires buy-in from a majority of politicians to maintain.

The GOP have been evil for longer than you’ve been alive; and their grand scheme has always been “to shrink the Government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub”. They are not in a position to do it.

The Trump presidency brought to light a flaw in the existing systems, that a lot of processes and regulations weren’t sufficiently bound by law, but rather protocol.

In that, one bad actor with support from their political party could ignore norms and standards set previously to withhold judicial appointments in an election year to deprive Obama of a seat, and then completely ignore that precedent when it happened again to Trump, giving him a 3rd appointment after one term.

Could/should Biden try something similar? Perhaps, and in some ways he is (student debt forgiveness) - but he now faces an uphill struggle against an openly hostile Supreme Court which has already proved to have no care for precedent either (e.g. overturning Rowe v. Wade).

Just remember, it takes a lot less time to destroy something, than it was to build it in the first place.

thatKamGuy ,

I’ve used similar services to this in the past; not because I couldn’t afford something up front - but because I wanted to amortise the purchase across a pretty short (8 week) period.

Why not just use a credit card? I did. As a semi-regular user of the service, it was set up in such a way that it would bill the first 25% of my purchase after 2 weeks, and again every 2 weeks after that.

So not only was I getting an additional interest-free time stacking the 2 week period with my CC’s billing cycle; but I was earning loyalty/rewards points with both programs simultaneously.

thatKamGuy ,

You likely just need to enable TPM through the BIOS (each manufacturer calls it something different).

I’m in a similar boat, but am going to use W10 EOL to probably jump ship to Linux - if not at the very least switch to Windows 10 LTSC.

thatKamGuy ,

I mean, all recent coverage seems to have been about Boeing planes…

…but stuff like this is likely more due to shoddy maintenance than production faults, right?

It’s just that everyone is hyper-vigilant currently for anything that goes wrong on a Boeing flight currently.

thatKamGuy ,

We can agree that there is at least a slight difference in having your own (or a friendly nation’s) Government tracking you, versus allowing a competing nation to have direct access to over half of the adult US population (as per their recent push-notification stunt), as well as a robust collection of their interests and preferences.

There is a reason China has banned most US-based software in the mainland (Meta, Google, etc.); in favour of self-developed alternatives. This is just treatment in kind; it’s not an outright ban, rather a forced sale to prevent more of that user data falling into dubious hands.

thatKamGuy ,

But your government will (try to) protect you from foreign influences That’s what this is, though.

Take a step back and consider for a moment the absolute mayhem TikTok was able to cause through one single push notification to their US user base (>170m, over half the adult population). That is not a power that should be wielded lightly, and definitely not one in the hands of a foreign adversary ready, willing and capable of weaponising it at their whim.

Think of the power that affords them to put their finger on the scale when it comes to the critical upcoming Presidential election, not just directly - but through slight manipulations of the algorithm to engage one political cohort and disenfranchise another.

Trump Apparently Has a List of Things He Loves About Adolf Hitler (newrepublic.com)

In his new book The Return of Great Powers, which comes out Tuesday, reporter Jim Sciutto interviews several of Trump’s former advisers. All of them stressed that Trump regularly lavished praise on authoritarian leaders around the world, calling Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “fantastic,” Chinese President Xi...

thatKamGuy ,

Baby Boomers can’t die off fast enough; it seems very reductive to blame this entire situation on them, but in simplest terms they are still the largest voting bloc and they are the last generation to swing more conservative as they aged.

Millennials and Zoomers aren’t off the hook, though. We need to not let apathy take over; every election is important, because there are those who are looking to take away your rights at every opportunity they get - and we can’t let them win, ever. For the sake of all of our futures - vote like your life depends on it, because it actually might.

thatKamGuy ,

I’m using an LG C1 48in OLED as my primary work/play display (8+ hours use per day), and it has no sign of burn-in.

The general fear over burn-in is over-exaggerated, and the technology has improved leaps and bounds over those early generations.

thatKamGuy ,

It’s a C1; I got it in November ‘21.

This year they’re releasing the C4s, and the C3s are going on heavy discount.

thatKamGuy ,

Yes, over 2.5 years of heavy use; Including ~8hrs of spreadsheets and SQL (Mon - Fri), in addition to waaay too many hours of WOW (fixed HUD) than I’d care to admit.

Consider also then, that Wulff Den ran an OLED Switch for 18,000 hours (two years straight) at max brightness, on a relatively “cheap-quality” (his words) panel: YT link

Additional point: My iPhone Xs was my daily driver until 18 months ago, and now has been relegated to a baby monitor duty (static video for ~18hrs a day) and also does not have any burn-in visible. The brightness on it isn’t cranked all the way to 100%, but neither I would your desktop.

LG and Samsung (the key W-OLED & QD-OLED manufacturers) have implemented firmware-level optimisations to ensure that burn-in is minimised, if not outright eliminated in real-world situations. Again, refer to the Wulff Den video for the amount of effort he had to go to in order to cause the burn-in he did.

All I’m advocating for is not taking “the Internet says” as gospel, as a LOT of the OLED information is either outdated or irrelevant (cheaper/seconds OLED panels from tertiary manufacturers who omit maintenance cycles from their firmware).

thatKamGuy ,

Dividing something by 0.5 isn’t halving it, it’s doubling it.

thatKamGuy ,

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/00a67d02-cf6a-47e3-9f02-36b370636989.jpeg

thatKamGuy ,

The only reason they are so expensive currently is because the demand is still quite new and the price you are quoting is ferrying the manufacturer who is incentivised to price it in such a way as to pay you towards buying a new car.

Go to an ICE manufacturer and ask for a new drivetrain and they will likely quote you parts and labour price that exceeds the value of the car.

Aftermarket support will continue to improve as the market continues to grow and mature. Give it another decade or so, and battery swaps/refurbishments will become as commonplace as ICE engine gasket replacements, while also being significantly cheaper.

Even as it stands now, ~10yo Teslas seem to have battery health at >80% (maybe due to over-provisioning?) and are sufficient to meet most commuter’s daily needs.

thatKamGuy ,

This is an over-simplification, but consider this:

A farm has to sell their produce/livestock below their cost-price, because demand has dropped and the resulting over-supply has caused a race to the bottom as producers try to recoup as must value as possible.

This leads to less funds available to produce the next round of crops (further negatively impacted by economies of scale), cover operating expenses and pay staff wages.

People lose their jobs and livelihoods, causing a negative feedback loop resulting in less demand overall… repeating the cycle. The Great Depression of a century ago was an example of a similar scenario.

thatKamGuy ,

“Inflation is good” from the perspective of Government fiscal policy.

Paying out interest on a AAA-rated loan (e.g. US bonds) is quite cheap, often below the national inflation rate. It allows (in theory) Governments to make large investments - like infrastructure - that work to increase their national GDP, which in turn can lead to increases in their tax-base, making it easier/cheaper to service their loans in the future.

So if the US issues a $1b bond, payable at 10yrs - with inflation at ~3%, the “value” (purchasing power) of that money would have decreased by over 25%.

thatKamGuy ,

Probably because BYD recently overtook Tesla as the world’s largest EV manufacturer.

If/when that realisation hits Wall Street, Tesla shares are going to take a massive hit.

thatKamGuy ,

I recently visited China, to meet my wife’s extended family.

Let me tell you, the sheer amount of single-use plastics that are consumed by any individual throughout a regular day in a metropolitan environment, is absolutely and mind-numbingly depressing.

Given that there are 1.3b people there, and that no matter how much we in the US/AU/EU reduce/reuse/recycle - we will never be able to truly offset that sheer amount of plastic pollution produced.

Now I’m not saying this to be a doomer, but more-so to say that individuals can’t enact sufficient change to save this planet, we need Government and corporate incentives to shift towards sustainable alternatives, and punitive policies to disincentivise plastic production globally.

thatKamGuy ,

While I have plenty of issues with modern American ‘conservatism’; a good chunk of the anti-vax movement was initially driven by some of the ‘crunchier’ members of the left (ie. alternate/natural medicine, crystal healing mom-type people)…

thatKamGuy ,

I’m running a rusty old QNAP NAS (10+ years old), and access it via Infuse on my iPhone / Apple TV.

It provides a very Kodi-like interface, and requires near 0 set-up. Just point it at the root network folders and it’ll pull all the relevant metadata (movie posters, cast lists, series info, optional subtitles etc.).

Walmart in talks to buy Vizio for more than $2 bln, WSJ reports (www.reuters.com)

Walmart in talks to buy Vizio for more than $2 bln, WSJ reports::Walmart is in talks to buy smart-television manufacturer Vizio for more than $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, a move that could bolster its advertising business and give it control of more than a fifth of the U.S. television market.

thatKamGuy ,

Do yourself a favour and switch to using a video game console, Apple TV or if you’re more technical my inclined - a HTPC.

Manufacturers have been getting increasingly nosey with their data collection policies, as well as inserting additional adds after the fact.

And can guarantee that in all circumstances, both the software and hardware will be infinitely better built, supported and more reliable.

thatKamGuy ,

This has existed one my active playlist for the better part of two decades: Blink 182’s Don’t Tell Me It’s Over, a bonus track from the ‘Green’ edition of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket - it never got anywhere near enough exposure that it deserved, so I’m doing my part!

thatKamGuy ,

Arrested July ‘91, sentenced February ‘92, murdered November ‘94…

So ~21 months.

thatKamGuy ,

Rachel Dolezal and Nuka Zeus would like to have a word with you…

thatKamGuy ,

Big sums of one-off money are a great spectacle, but they have negative short-term impacts (likely to cause another spike to inflation) and negligible long-term benefits as once the funds are spent it’s just a return to the status-quo.

A more aggressive tax-cut for the lowest band, as well as a boost to services offered to those same people (rent assistance, dietary stipends to promote healthier foods etc.) funded by the top-end of town are the best long-term solution- but they don’t cause anywhere near the same level of media ‘splash’ as a “free” $1K would.

thatKamGuy ,

What you call ‘market distortions’ are at times the only other means of getting additional money into the hands of low income earners.

If someone’s already paying $0 in income tax, either because they are on disability payments, a student, or caring after a loved one - then providing them with supplemental rental and nutritional payments are sometimes the only thing standing between them becoming unhoused and going hungry.

thatKamGuy ,

Only if you buy into the Murdoch press. Similar thoughts tend to be expressed about Australia’s Labor party also, when the actual reality is markedly different.

thatKamGuy ,

This almost feels like they’re name-dropping Apple Pay and Google Pay to mask the fact that this is more aimed towards embedded payment systems like WeChat (along with AliPay and whatever hot garbage Musk intends to add to Xitter)?

thatKamGuy ,

With hindsight, given the dirty tricks the GOP played in order to secure Trump two Supreme Court appointments; the Dem’s should have just gone full radical and take the Senates refusal to put the nomination up for a vote as a tacit ‘approval’ (seeing as they didn’t technically vote him down), and sit Garland on the court.

It’s the political equivalent of not negotiating with Terrorists, akin to the Paradox of Tolerance.

thatKamGuy , (edited )

Windham Rotunda, Bob Barker and Arleen Sorkin walk up to the Pearly Gates…

What a strange, miserable week…

thatKamGuy ,

The large ‘malls’ here are all seeing to do very well, and those that were previously struggling have seemed to have seen success pivoting away from being just a place to go and ‘buy’ things and into places to ‘do’ and ‘experience’ things.

We millennials have a fascination with mixing alcohol and activities we did growing up, with bowling, mini-golf and ticket arcades doing well by feeding off our nostalgia.

thatKamGuy ,

Driver is definitely the one ultimately at fault here, but how is it that Tesla doesn’t perform an emergency stop in this situation - but just barrels into an obstacle?

Even my relatively ‘dumb’ car with adaptive cruise control handles this type of situation better than Tesla?!

thatKamGuy ,

Wait, the Model X doesn’t have RADAR/LIDAR to supplement the cameras?

What are some RPGs for someone who doesnt like most RPGs

Hey everyone! I’ve been diving into RPGs lately and wanted to share my thoughts and seek recommendations from fellow gamers. I’ve found myself resonating with Scott the Woz’s viewpoint on random encounters and grinding, but I do make an exception when the combat system is truly exceptional, like in the case of...

thatKamGuy ,

Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger, I think strike a good balance regarding random encounters.

On the other end of the spectrum would be something like the Front Mission or Final Fantasy Tactics series - where the narrative is all handled through set battles.

thatKamGuy ,

Currently running Windows 10, but refuse to upgrade to Windows 11. Next rebuild will hopefully be Linux-based, and am getting my head around it slowly through my Steam Deck. It has immensely improved since my uni days in the early 2000s.

thatKamGuy ,

First learned of him from the Chatterbox radio station in GTA3, of all places. FREE KEVIN!!

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