Cataphract

joined 2 years ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I thought the same as you did before coming in here thinking the headline was fine but reading some other comments I can see their point of view. Different people just see different things, it's all just perspective. You've really gone on an unhealthy crusade in here demanding everyone see your side and that it's the only valid one.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Is that still a pervasive thought in today's culture about Japan? I understood back in the 90's when there was less exposure but I thought that reality kinda crumbled with the loss of high tech companies that actually give a damn anymore. I don't know of anyone that talks about "premier" Japan tech unless it's something from the past.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, you'll be better off getting into linux now than any previous years. It's pretty easy and practical these days especially with the push into the Steam Deck. It's pretty much plug(install)-and-play with most systems, there's only a few outliers like custom pc's and a small amount of games that will give you any sort of problems.

I run one windows, one mac, and like 5 linux machines. If you stick with the more popular linux distributions like debian you won't run into weird problems. It's only surfing weird distro's like elementary and pop OS that I've had to do further troubleshooting on.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago

you would have to factor in the amount of traffic that exposure from youtube gets them for those other monetary functions to get a real sense of how valuable it is to be or not be on that platform. Definitely feel like ethics should always come into play though and a lot of creators are branching out with hosting themselves or patreon/etc.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago

oh god, don't tell Nilered. He'll end up melting down hundreds of cast iron trying to get enough lead to make something with lol.

seriously though, whoever does it I hope they find some older ones to test as well and not just trying to replicate it with melting metals. Might be like trying to find a 4-leaf clover and they would be getting tons of people just shipping pans but I think it would be important to see the effects time had. Full testing including cutting open and seeing the results in the layers below the surface if they're trying to remove it.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

not all sandblasting is ghost busters style though. Plenty of smaller units in use that have some pretty extensive filtration add'ons for just this type of situation (think sci-fi medical glass-box with glove inserts you stick you hands into and where the alien eventually breaks out of).

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

I was skeptical of them at first when looking for 2nd-life OS's. There were a lot of sketchy looking and not really "user-friendly" sites/forums (postmarketOS being one of them) that I avoided but decided to try it anyways. It's been fun and I've enjoyed having a decent OS to tinker with and see what capabilities I can get out of defunct equipment.

If I could get a secure smartphone use out of them I'm gonna be ecstatic. Been staring at phones and GrapheneOS for the past two years but glad I didn't jump onto something yet.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 34 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I feel so proud of postmarketOS! I've been using them for 2nd life uses for phones, tablets, and chromebooks with very minimal problems. It's like having an obscure band you follow all of a sudden getting mentioned everywhere and I couldn't be happier for the project (like the 3rd time on Lemmy this week alone I've seen them mentioned).

If you have some scrap equipment throw it on and report your findings! There's a lot of testing that needs done and information needs to flow. I've done a "recipe" notebook with an old chromebook, a tablet for easy video viewing I can send videos to (instead of making my partner come to the comp), and like 3 other devices that I haven't finished with but pmOS will be a part of it.

Join their testing team if you have devices that aren't listed! Unlike most requirements, if it's not listed that just means it probably hasn't been tested...not that it doesn't work on your device. (they could probably also use some editors for their text instructions, it's quite back and forth with links trying to find proper instructions).

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 36 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That whole article is infuriating... WHAT WAS THE SONG!!

but seriously, this article paints such a sad sad picture for them

The festival, which drew roughly 30 to 50 people at any given time on both Friday and Saturday (at a park...in the state capitol.... it was just people wandering around wondering wtf was going on lol)

"He sang a song with lyrics that go against our values," Fitzpatrick said... "This is yet another example of lies and deceptions from the Pride community. That’s what they are: liars and deceivers. They do it to victimize children. It’s pathetic and evil."

like, ffs. That was such an insane comment to make after someone sings a song you don't like, but then you find out the rest of his "events"

various events, including "Beers for Breeders" gatherings, Conspiracy Theory Trivia Night, where patrons can win an AR-15 rifle, Christian singles events, Bible study sessions, and gatherings for flat-earthers.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

back around late 90's early 00's I was pretty lucky to have a group of friends that all just hung around together. Talking like 8 or more of us and it always wound up that 3 of us would have a place together out in the sticks (it changed locations/roommates from year to year but we had a good long 5+ years of everyone being consistently together). We ended up playing basically any tabletop we could get our hands on or pirate (napster/limewire back then) and print off (we still ended up spending 100's a piece though on dice and official releases), we even ended up starting to make our own games that I still think about doing something with to this day. (all just context for how we could pull off some of what I'm about to say)

Getting EVERYONE together was rather difficult at times, people would come into stories and be quickly rotated out if they had to work or weren't available when we were wanting to continue running a story-line (multiple different DM's and storylines from different games going on in concert, still can't fathom how that all worked out looking back). So we all got pretty used to being fluid about it and no one really had any FOMO unless their character was low-level versus everyone else.

At that point it became apparent on my storyline that I was going to have to catch some people up so we started doing 1-on-1 DMing where I would spend a few hours running someone basically on a solo mission that I could tie into the rest of the story and give them something to catch up to everyone else. Sometimes we would do it before a bigger session and people showing up early could sit in or do cameo appearances to help out/etc. People are a lot more comfortable to ask questions and be involved with the story that way and translates well to the group play.

It ended up being a huge success and had some of my favorite interactions. Sometimes we would have a bunch of people over and some wanted to play and some wanted to listen to music and party so it just always felt natural and those involved really wanted to be there for it.

[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Even with consuming mostly left-leaning media I keep seeing right-wing content hitting my feeds CONSTANTLY. It's so insane that one video has "Destroyed X with this debate" while the next is "X Won debate against crazy rhetoric". I'm not even singling out right wing with this either, everyone is just horrible with the click bait titles and I can see how powerful the bubbles are to expand yourself out of even if you have a desire too.

 

Been slowly running into more results from DDG that seem to have some "personal parameter" or difference in search results. I had a search saved from some months ago, went to check it for some references and got new hits involving local organizations that had nothing to do with the search. Opening up a private browser I see that the searches aren't 100% matching up either.

I see this as only getting worse, I want to be able to enter a search and it searches for my query. Not based on my personality or whatever info is being collected. Does anyone know a search engine that's reliable and focuses on giving the same results and doesn't try this "personalized" crap?

49
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by Cataphract@lemmy.ml to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
 

Felt inspired. Be gentle, please make any salty comments or downvotes in comic form.

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19279018

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19279015

I wanted to share and highlight this video for others to see. This is such a thorough and amazing resource for the dev team at Frost Giant (the makers of Stormgate) that I hope they have seen. The breakdown and walk-through of the different elements of the game was such an amazing thing to watch.

I found myself sitting there watching for hours, this is exactly what game companies need in terms of experienced game tester leads that can articulate and explain everything going on in the game from the perspective of an average player. I think if every game company had someone of this caliber, to sit down with them and go over the basic mechanics of the games, we would all be a lot better off. I felt like I was sitting in on a company meeting while an outside contractor was going over his notes with the developers and trying to understand their vision while giving his unique and experienced position.

I'm definitely more excited about the game than I was previously after watching this video (as confusing as that might seem). It shows a clear path of how to fix and enhance the gameplay which has a chance to come into fruition with the game still in the testing phase.

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19279015

I wanted to share and highlight this video for others to see. This is such a thorough and amazing resource for the dev team at Frost Giant (the makers of Stormgate) that I hope they have seen. The breakdown and walk-through of the different elements of the game was such an amazing thing to watch.

I found myself sitting there watching for hours, this is exactly what game companies need in terms of experienced game tester leads that can articulate and explain everything going on in the game from the perspective of an average player. I think if every game company had someone of this caliber, to sit down with them and go over the basic mechanics of the games, we would all be a lot better off. I felt like I was sitting in on a company meeting while an outside contractor was going over his notes with the developers and trying to understand their vision while giving his unique and experienced position.

I'm definitely more excited about the game than I was previously after watching this video (as confusing as that might seem). It shows a clear path of how to fix and enhance the gameplay which has a chance to come into fruition with the game still in the testing phase.

 

I wanted to share and highlight this video for others to see. This is such a thorough and amazing resource for the dev team at Frost Giant (the makers of Stormgate) that I hope they have seen. The breakdown and walk-through of the different elements of the game was such an amazing thing to watch.

I found myself sitting there watching for hours, this is exactly what game companies need in terms of experienced game tester leads that can articulate and explain everything going on in the game from the perspective of an average player. I think if every game company had someone of this caliber, to sit down with them and go over the basic mechanics of the games, we would all be a lot better off. I felt like I was sitting in on a company meeting while an outside contractor was going over his notes with the developers and trying to understand their vision while giving his unique and experienced position.

I'm definitely more excited about the game than I was previously after watching this video (as confusing as that might seem). It shows a clear path of how to fix and enhance the gameplay which has a chance to come into fruition with the game still in the testing phase.

 

I ran into an old movie I had on VHS as a kid titled "MegaForce" (1982) (RT link). I hadn't seen the movie in decades and was worried looking at a rotten tomato score of 6% that if I watched it, I would be completely disappointed in the movie as an adult. Surprisingly, I didn't realize as a kid that it was actually more of a spoof comedy action movie like a knock-off "Hot Shots" or "Naked Gun" and just completely enjoyed watching it again because it felt like a whole new experience (definitely better than the new G.I. Joe's lol).

So what's your movie from your past that you'll always enjoy no matter how cheesy or horrible it may seem?

 

I've been seeing more often (and others have posted the same) that some of the elements of "Reddit etiquette" seem to be taking over here. Luckily I can still find discussion comments but it seems the jokes and general "downvote because I disagree" are slowly taking over.

So the question becomes is it the size or the functionality of the site? The people or popularity? What's your thoughts?

edit: should I change it to Lemmy-hivemind? Exhibit A: the amount of downvotes without a single explanation (guessing it's anything to do with Reddit being talked about).

 

I just wanted to use my voice to let everyone know about this since it seems to be something they want to Streisand effect. I made a discussion on the stormgate steam page about how their EULA has a bad link to their privacy policy and asked why the information listed in the policy is being collected. It had to go through the review process since it contained links and then after being posted was deleted from my history after an hour (I guess when someone actually laid eyes on it)

For the full details I already made a post in the privacy community asking if this was a common occurrence. I'm attempting to reach out through other avenues for some type of explanation but just getting crickets or brick walls. Please use caution and common sense when downloading and consenting to agreements from game companies.

The highlights if you don't feel like clicking the link:

In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:

A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver's license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.

A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information.

Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.

Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.

Physical location or movements.

 

Rather peeved about all of this. Been waiting for this game for ages and was excited about the F2P aspect then found out a lot of elements of the game are locked behind paywalls making the full game costing way over most AAA games. Ok, lets roll on anyways and see what the game has to offer. Then I get to the privacy policy and realize they're using anti-cheat services to monitor your game, I continued reading the user agreement and then had to find their actual privacy policy page because they have it listed under a different url then what they have posted. Some Highlights from the user agreement:

You may not host, provide or develop matchmaking services for the Product, or intercept, emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by Frost Giant in any way, for any purpose, including without limitation unauthorized play over the internet, network play (except as expressly authorized by Frost Giant), or as part of content aggregation networks.

You may not organize, promote or participate in an esports competition for the Product which has not been licensed by Frost Giant.

You may not play on another user's Account

In order to safeguard its licensing rights, when you are using the Product, Frost Giant may monitor your hardware random access memory (RAM)

You understand that the mere presence of unauthorized cheat software on your device, whether or not you use that unauthorized software while playing the Game, may result in Frost Giant exercising its full rights under this Agreement.

Acknowledgments. You acknowledge that:

  • The Game which is the object of the Alpha or Beta Test is a work in progress and may contain bugs which may cause loss of data and/or damage to your computer system;
  • You have, or will, back-up your hard drive prior to installation of the Beta;
  • You have the resources necessary to easily reinstall the operating system for the computer system that you will use to take part in the Alpha or Beta Test as well as to restore any and all data that may be lost;

It just goes on and on with some really sketchy stuff, then I get to the privacy policy:

Your contact information/identifiers, such as your name, your gamer id, mailing address, email address, employer, primary language, country, social media credentials. preferred games and date of birth. If you contact us by telephone, we will also retain your telephone number.

Your geolocation data, if your device settings allow us to collect such information.

Your account preference information, such as your contact, communication and marketing preferences.

Your device and browsing information, including non-personally identifiable information about your phone, tablet, computer or device and online browsing activity, which may be automatically collected. This may include IP addresses, unique identifiers, cookie identifiers, browser language, device and browser settings and broad location-based information, and internet service provider information. It may also include information about when and how you accessed and used our Sites, how you navigated to our Sites (such as the date and time of your visit), the links you clicked, the websites you visited before and after our Sites, and what you searched for while on our Sites.

Analytics & Interest-Based Ads. We partner with third parties (like sponsors, content providers, and analytics companies) to help us improve our Services and better understand how you interact with them, as well as to support our marketing initiatives and ad campaigns. These companies may collect info from you automatically in connection with your visit.

And the really scary part

In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:

  • A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver's license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.
  • A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information.
  • Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.
  • Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisement.
  • Physical location or movements.

Third party service providers. - From time to time, Frost Giant may need to transmit your personal data to vendors or service providers that enable us to market, sell, or deliver our services. These service providers may require certain personal information in order to perform specific services on our behalf, such as cloud service and data storage, beta testing, tech support to enhance game operations, chat, customer support, social login, fulfillment and shipping, email and newsletter delivery, conducting surveys, payment processing, tournament operation, anti-cheat and fraud prevention, web hosting or web analytics. Such partners include:

Steam
Epic Online Services
RallyCry
Hathora
Brevo
Eventbrite
AWS
Sentry.io 
Google
Easy Anti-Cheat 
GGWP
Untapped
Kakao Games
ModSquad

I've stopped playing previous games that use these tactics and programs because there's just too many other games that don't require these that are available. This was a game I was hoping to get back into with some RTS friends I've made along the way, Is this just the way of the world or something to avoid?

 

Sorry for the vague question but I'm hoping there's a lot I"m missing. I know I can edit the side bar, icon, and banner. Make the community public or private and there's a "mod posting only" option. But is that it?

Some things I'm wondering about,

  • can I turn downvotes off or is that an instance only thing? (fan community, off topic would just be removed)
  • Is there any other way to manipulate the community page like backgrounds etc?
  • Flair's or post tags? Any community settings I looked over?
  • Allowing or disallowing bots (again is this an instance thing?)

I'm fine with what it is, just wanted to make sure there wasn't more I was missing with my options in the community.

Bonus question, besides crossposting and the "new communities" community sections, is there anything else I should do with a fresh community?

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19022210

Just love everything about this segment and a truly awesome look behind the scenes.

Will be posting up the rest of the segments in chronological order in the cross-posted community

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/19022210

Just love everything about this segment and a truly awesome look behind the scenes.

Will be posting up the rest of the segments in chronological order in the cross-posted community

view more: ‹ prev next ›