Can we drop this “linux is hackerman territory for cheats” stereotype?

I don’t see this as a negative thing and it is absolutely true to some degree. Most of the incredibly talented low-level developers in the world (you know, those that are actually capable of making non-script kiddie hacks) have a tendency towards Linux.

So no, I’m not dropping the “Linux is a sign you might mean business” thing, especially if their idea of a desktop environment is just a collection of terminal windows neatly tiled together. We should be proud of the fact that some the most talented coders in de world choose freedom of software over anything else.

But luckily most of those people focus their efforts on different subjects. So yes, the problem is definitely on Windows with all the 14 year olds buying cheats off the darknet using their mom’s credit card (dramatized for effect).

those shitty anticheat platforms that just assume you’re a cheater if you use Linux. Cause, you know, Linux scary.

To be fair, the people at the cutting edge of modern computing are statistically very likely to be Linux users. Therefore it’s not entirely unreasonable to have some prejudice against Linux users.

But as a sweeping measure these anti-cheat measures are absolutely unacceptable. The only other explanation is that they just don’t want to bother with the market share still being low compared to Windows.

Personally, if a game requires anti-cheat, it’s probably not a game I’d enjoy playing. Not a big fan of competitive gameplay. But for those that are, this needs to stop. Especially with all the new bullshit Microsoft has been pulling in Windows lately.

I work in IT, and different definitions of what SaaS means are starting to wreak real havoc on the architecture as a whole.

We are better served just quitting the acronyms and taking the time to talk about a more detailed description of what the service actually adds in terms of value.

Amazon Prime is a subscription for shipping, video streaming, gaming benefits and more. Since software is not the primary goal, but a means of delivery for these other services, I will not consider Amazon Prime SaaS.

So you’re saying we should just turn the children of all conservatives queer? Alright, bring in the cat girls, 196 memes and let’s pounce!

Joking aside, there’s two archetypes of conservative:

• The Xenofobe, who is afraid of a changing world and that fear is strengthened by anything they experience as threatening to their image of how the world works. These people are more likely to warm to LGBTQIA+ people if they learn they’re not so different, and everyone is just trying to exist, be themselves and love who they love. There is no agenda for taking over the world.
• The Cultist. These people are beyond saving and generally consist of the hardcore christofascist bible belt inbred morons that are generally dumb as fuck, but loud as hell. They are indoctrinated by their own bubble of conspiracy theorists to the point where they are firmly dug into their own story and nothing will change their views.

It is not worth fighting either group with animosity, condemnation or attacks, as they are more than capable of spinning the story their side and reinforcing their ideas that queers are somehow threatening.

But at least we should be capable of showing the xenofobes that there is no monster in that closet (pun intended), or under their beds.

As for Rowling, she is likely part of the cultist group, which means we’re going to have issues. Her status as a celebrity and her wealth further isolates her from the rest of society, which is a real problem because that makes you able to opt out of confrontation with reality. She can just stategically isolate herself from ever coming into contact and having a real human interaction with the people she’s having all these misguided ideas about.

I think everyone should be made more aware of the damage that social bubbles cause to society. Whether it’s conservative communities, religious indoctrination, closed internet discussion groups or just the wealthy and famous distancing themselves from society (which is usually not by choice but because we treat them to a permanent dose of spotlights).

Yeah I believe this to be a fallacy. If all your contacts use WhatsApp, they still haven’t grasped the concept of installing two applications side-by-side. Or they don’t fully understand why people are using signal over WhatsApp. If you fail both of those, congratulations, you’ve failed to be a self-aware tech user and you’re now demoted to a braindead consumer.

I know, mind blowing right? Point is, society in general should not accept others forcing you to keep the WhatsApp monopoly in tact, which is exactly what’s happening here.

It will take some time but eventually adoption will spread, even among your contacts. It’s just a matter of critical mass, and there are some pretty compelling features within Signal that make it a worthy replacement.

Ah second category it is. Well met!

As a category one nerd with a susceptibility to new kinds of gadget-related hobbies I’m not sure SAT TV is something I should be getting into. Sounds like an absolute blast to tinker with all kinds of setups though.

Do you just buy a dish and a receiver en get going? Or is there more to it?

Satellite forums sounds like a very specific hobby, but I can’t quite tell which one:

• forums where all the remote sensing / OSINT / geospatial nerds gather.
• forums for satellite broadcast enthousiasts.
• forums for discussion on space exploration and satellites carrying scientific equipment or actual satellite astronomical bodies.
• forums that are called satellite forums as some form of jargon I am about to learn about for the first time.

What are people into these days?

We actually had a champion for a while. So far he hasn’t really achieved the original goal, but that doesn’t mean that the dream is dead.

Heck, if he doesn’t do it, I will! We need capes back in fashion. Either subtle renaissance style fashionable shoulder capes or full blown cloaks that can double as blankets in a pinch.

Been rocking a Fulton umbrella ever since my last cheapo umbrella broke.

Choice was mostly based on their designs/styles which I really like, but are mostly a matter of taste. The main requirement was either fiberglass or carbon fiber ribs which will not fail unless you’re actively trying to destroy them.

We’re not even quite sure yet that time is actually different from space. All research seems to suggest they are sides of the same coin.

Depending on how you look at it, considering time a separate dimension at all just seems silly.

Then again, this is just some more context for your context.

You’d have to be nuts to invest in Reddit, given the current state of the platform.

• The the CEO admitting reddit is not profitable in its current state.
• The amount of media attention the API change protests have gotten. * The ever increasing amount of search engine links to removed content.
• Memelords already talking about shorting the stock into the ground if it goes public.
• Various scandals involving the CEO, with likely more to come.
• Little to no third-party developers willing to write new software that integrates with Reddit anymore because they are now seen as an unpredictable party.

There is no way any of this leads to significant growth. The user base that has stuck around is generally not interested in the things that make reddit reddit, being a community-driven and -moderated platform. And significant changes to how the platform works (thereby taking away the unique selling points) will put it into a position where there is no real advantage over using competing platforms. This will make binding new users to the platform a difficult task.

The only ones stupid enough to buy lots of reddit stock will have an incentive to change it and make it profitable. We’ve seen musk attempt this with Twitter and just look how that has worked out so far.

The worst part is that Spez will likely still get to cash out and fuck off while the platform dies and burns in his wake.

If anything, torrents have a region boost. Provided no one has servers or seedboxes set up, you’re going to benefit hugely from seeders near your location.

Honestly that probably goes for any interpreted programming language that supports imports.

Many Javascript frameworks just put their configuration into -.config.js files in the project root. Which is a pretty elegant solution that does not require custom parsing. Just import the config and go nuts.

Compiled (and by extension bundled) software obviously requires a different approach, but at that point you should probably consider storing your config in some kind of database.

Maybe there just isn’t a right answer to the config conundrum if all the general solutions are janky in some way.

Yeah not a fan of YAML either. I simply don’t see the benefit of getting rid of delimiters and replacing them with indentation. Yes, it does save several bytes, which might be important if you measure space in kilobytes I guess. It does provide cleaner files which may or may not be more readable.

It does not provide any advantages in parsing complexity. It does not provide any protection against typos.

I guess the same can be said of python, which forces indentation and therefore readable code formatting. Which is a problem that does not exist since the invention of code formatters and linters.

I like python for what it does but delimiters are actually useful in terms of readability. They provide an extra hint that the text you’re about to look at conforms to a specific structure.

The python community would like to have a word with you.

See, that’s where you went wrong. You should really use your right hand for petting your mouse, which frees up your left hand for uhh… typing.

A mouse. Just any mouse. There are so many trackpad warriors out there (primarily Apple users) that complain they’re being handicapped but they don’t just go for the easy solution.

I’ve even seen some idiots stubbornly trying to do CAD work with a trackpad, and struggling in the process.

Get a fucking mouse.

Additionally, if you’re into mapping, give QGIS a try.

It’s an open source geospatial data management application, which is available cross-platform.

It neatly integrates many processing tools into a relatively intuitive GUI, and having even some basic skill can lead to some job opportunities.

You can even import OSM data through plugins or download services, which you can use for all kinds of fancy things.

It’s a simple and elegant way of covering 95% of document structuring needs, while being as close to readable plaintext as possible.

The vast majority of documents currently written in MS-word could just be markdown. The vast majority of web content could just be markdown. This would save the modern world petabytes of XML bloat.

If you need something fancier, either use a vector format or do fancy client-side styling.

That was awesome, thanks for sharing.

I fully get what you’re saying and I think I know a thing or two about how lifestyle branding consumes people’s lives to the point where they’re fully absorbed.

Social media platforms seem to be by far the worst offenders of stimulating this kind of addiction (let’s just name it for what it is).

Coming from a background of designing products, as opposed to selling them I tend to be focused on product representation, rather than selling an idea. Which is not actually the route to making stupid amounts of money.

You’ve convinced me that marketing is definitely part of the problem. Here in the Netherlands they’ve recently (about two years ago) relaxed some legislation on online gambling (gambling itself is legal, just the ads weren’t) and since we’ve seen a surge of ads on television and social media featuring sports icons and influencers. The result has been a giant increase in profits, which directly corelates to figures of increased debt, prevalent mostly in young adults. I firmly believe this is toxic and needs to be fixed asap.

If you do decide to host a Q&A I’ll be sure to have a look for more cool insights.