th3raid0r

joined 1 year ago
MODERATOR OF
[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 4 points 1 month ago

Oh yes, totally understood. I've seen families destroyed from sports gambling and other, less boisterous forms of it.

If I like anything, it's scratchers and it's because they're soooooo satisfying to "play". But it's only something I indulge in occasionally.

Anyways, I tried to get into MMO's back in the early days with all my friends. I tired of it fairly quickly. I guess the novelty seeking part of my brain overwhelmingly rejects typical "gambling" mechanics. Loot boxes don't do anything for me and never have.

More recently I've grown completely frustrated with franchises like Forza Horizon and their little slot machine / skinner box mechanic. I love racing games, but it made me stop playing.

I can be addicted to things, but it just isn't gambling for me somehow.

I do resent MMO's for destroying so many of my friend's lives though. Weird to lose people to that ecosystem, it's the video game equivalent to losing someone to an MLM.

Also fuuuuuck, MLMs, almost did the "vector marketing" (cutco cutlery) and "rainbow vacuum" thing - the only thing that saved me was that Youtube had existed for like 5 years by then and there was enough people out there with their stories.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I never understood this one. I have ADHD and autism and I find gambling boring as hell. With maybe the exception of blackjack. Where my autistic brain tries to count cards.

I remember the day I turned 21. I decided to try out a casino. I spent $50 there and promptly left. Maybe I just lucked out and they didn't hook me with an easy win early on?

I'd much rather spend $50 on a video game that I can entertain myself with for hours.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 4 points 1 month ago

One unique tip that I have is to go to a CBD/Hemp store and snag some CBD heavy strains to mix in with your normal bud. Making sure to increase the % of CBD each time you grind.

It might not help immediately, since CBD is supposed to be a calming substance, not a stimulant. But quitting smoking is a whole lot easier once you are mostly on the CBD stuff.

Definitely avoid the CBG heavy hemp as that'll just give you the gnarliest munchies you'll ever have in your life. Some people swear it's "smart weed" - but for me I can't think straight when munchies are knocking.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 3 points 1 month ago

I'm really surprised no one mentioned Terra Invicta!

Basically if the Three Body Problem series was a Grand strategy game.

In terms of grand strategy it is quite grand. So massive and complex that even 100 hours in, I haven't completed a game.

That being said, it's so addicting. I haven't really played any other Sci-Fi games where you can take over multiple countries on Earth, take over other bodies in the solar system, and field space Navy to defend the planet.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 1 points 1 month ago

Almost removed due to not being local, but it's just barely local enough with:

Maricopa County Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers was on the phone to confer with election officials and the county sheriff, and said he worked late into the night. The sheriff’s office later posted on social media that there is no known active threat against Maricopa County polling places. “Security plans are robust and we actively watch & evaluate every potential threat,” it said. On Sunday, election officials sent a letter to Maricopa poll workers and election staff, telling them that law enforcement knew of no active threats, but reminding them to share any concerns.

Sellers, a Republican, said the shooting might spur him to take steps to further protect his own safety, something law enforcement officials have urged him to take more seriously, given the stream of threats he and his fellow local officials have received. “I don’t feel very threatened, but I need to do more,” he said.

The shooting, he said, “made me feel sick.”

The threat of political violence moved abruptly again to the forefront of Americans’ consciousness with the assassination attempt on Trump, but for election officials, an environment of threats and fear has been the uncomfortable norm for years.

In Arizona, and all over the country election officials have been receiving death threats in the years since Trump and his allies claimed the 2020 election was stolen, some of which have led to federal prosecution. The specter of violence has also appeared at polling places and election facilities. For example, in Pennsylvania, two Virginia men were convicted last year for bringing weapons to the Philadelphia Convention Center where mail ballots for the November 2020 election were being counted.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 1 points 1 month ago

Idk, I feel like "is it feasible" is the wrong question to ask when someone threatens mass deportations and has been granted extraordinary power. But what do I know?

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 2 points 1 month ago

Eh, didn't come across like that. More like a sort of nihilistic defeatism. It didn't make Kelly appear like a bad senator. But perhaps my definition of "hit piece" is a bit narrow.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This one was especially hard to parse. Is he serious in that he thinks that Biden == Black Caucus? Is this satire? I agree about Biden being treated unfairly, but I don't really agree that replacing Biden is less dangerous than not replacing him - and I'll vote for whoever the democratic candidate is regardless.

All in all, this opinion piece is one of the worst I've ever read from Mr. Morlock. It didn't serve to clarify anything and didn't really say anything about how Mr. Kelly actually operates as a U.S. senator - just considering him too "soft" - which is really really bizarre.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 2 points 1 month ago

I like how the response infantilized Mrs. Wadsack by assuming she doesn't know the difference between persecution and prosecution. 😂

You go, Tucson Mega-Karen, you do that Karen thing. Let's see how it works out come election day.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I normally like your takes, but this one doesn't really garner conversation the way your other posts do. It's a bit slapstick, IMO.

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 1 points 2 months ago

Update: I won't be there today due to some health issues that cropped up and stole a lot of sleep.

I really hope the event continues on without me. ✊

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 1 points 2 months ago

Alright packing it in for Thursday. Winds are wreaking havoc on the signs. Oh well. Here's hoping for Saturday.

 

As in title - automated posts are going to be down for a day or so while I help the author upgrade the bot's code. Nothing major - and provided we don't run into any issues it should return tomorrow.

Enjoy your 100% bot-free* instance while it lasts. 🙃

* -- I cannot guarantee that other users are human, but that's a different issue.

 

Obviously this is still a Pixel issue - but at least I can connect to my home Wifi again.

I previously posted saying that Wifi was broken in general, but I mistook my ongoing Xfinity outage as being unable to connect to any wifi. Thus I removed the post.

When the outage ended, I could connect to some other networks and couldn't figure out why.

It wasn't until after a painful factory reset process that I tried going from WPA3/WPA2 mode to just WPA2 on both of my APs and suddenly everything is able to connect again.

It seems that the recent OTA update borked WPA3-Personal in a way that doesn't allow it to navigate the "compatibility mode" of WPA3/WPA2 either.

Edit - Looks like this might even be something Verizon specific - UQ1A-20231205.015.A1

Edit2 - Also mine is a Pixel 7 Pro - a Pixel 6 Pro user reports no such issue - YMMV.

 

I just realized that every streaming platform seems to have a couple heavy-hitter big-budget sci-fi series these days. Most of them turn out to be critically acclaimed as well.

Sure, we all know that there are Star Trek fans who dislike Discovery and Picard, or Foundation fans who dislike Apple's adaptation. Even though much of what is on TV is still decades-old franchises, it seems that we're getting more original sci-fi along with it.

  • Scavengers Reign
  • For All Mankind
  • Invasion
  • Cyberpunk: Edgeruners
  • Tales from the Loop

I could go on...

No longer is it simply a single channel on cable tv that was also 50/50 with horror content, plus Star Trek and a handful of others that other networks syndicated.

Today there's a rich tapestry of new ideas, concepts, and just plain art in media that was normally reserved for paperbacks published by Tor and others.

Don't get me wrong, I still love me some SG1, TNG, DS9, B5, and others - all shows I grew up with; but I'm so happy that we get so much more now!

 

Other Arch Flavors I've tried (some are no longer with us) include:

  • ArchBang
  • EndeavourOS
  • Manjaro
  • Chakra

So with that out of the way, I've found my Garuda experience incredibly painful. From messy repositories (Chaotic-AUR plus their own stuff), to an overly involved upgrade process (when using the helper) - the distro screams of a team that has no freakin' clue how to maintain an actual distribution.

It's basically Arch on hard mode with so many settings rolled into their own packages which need to be removed before customization.

Then we get to the purported performance enhancements and, honestly, this is the worst performing distro I've ever used, by multiple miles. I'm not sure if its the scheduler settings, or something with the zram settings - but this distro hitches and hangs constantly. (5950x, 64GB of Ram, Samsung 980 Pro drives, NVIDIA RTX 3080Ti - NOT a weak machine by any standards)

I'd normally chalk it up to compositor issues on Wayland (yes, I prefer Wayland and it works fine for most Arch derivitaves even with Nvidia). However the performance issues even crop up on basic terminal commands on a TTY with lots of weird hangs and lags.

The ONLY thing that was easier on this distro was installing the various Proton GE builds and other specialty stuff found in the Chaotic-AUR. But given the above, it's definitely not worth it when one can configure an Arch box to do the same things without all of the problems.

Perhaps I'm not doing something right? Given all the praise for this distro, perhaps it shouldn't perform like this?

To be completely and utterly clear - I'm an advanced user trying out these distros for fun and discovery. I can indeed "just use a different distro" but wanted to give this one a fair shake before moving on.

 

"Sorry we're out of that one."

Probably starts before 7PM or something. Definitely wasn't worth the parking pain.

 

As an AuDHD person with Echolalalalalalalalalia 🙃, I find that my accent/idiolect has changed as I've aged and been exposed to different accents of all types in the U.S.. I just kinda pick up certain things I like.

For example I like:

  • The British pronunciation/spelling of Aluminium and Banana
  • The Irish pronunciation of three (my grandfather who was not at all born in Ireland also used it though)
  • Upper Midwest sayings and phrases - Ope!, Oh ya sure!
  • Extended "Wwweeeelp"s
  • I bounce ALL around my register in speaking sometimes. I've sometimes been described as sing-songy.

But also dislike certain aspects of things and seek to avoid them at all costs....

  • Cot/Caught, Pen/Pin - NO MERGERS! Ever. They must be different sounds.
  • Glottal Stops in place of consonants are a no go - pronounce the whole thing dang it!

There's a whole lot more of course, but I need to finish this post so I can go be an unregulated mess after a long (and particularly annoying) day of work.

So what about y'all? I'm super curious to know!

 

Hi all!

Do we need a /c/news and/or /c/politics?

I know it's kinda confusing. After all, where else have you been getting local news and politics all this time? But those communities are actually /c/localnews and /c/tucsonpolitics.

So here's the dillemma - we get far more engagement on national-level news. Yet that's technically against the rules here.

So what should we do?

Should we open up new communities for national level discourse?

I think I floated the idea before but the community was generally against it at the time.

Many of the people engaging are Tucsonans operating from other instances, which I think is super cool and shows that there is value in people having a local forum to discuss national news and politics.


On the future of tucson.social:

I think the future lies with Mbin, not Lemmy.

For those who aren't a complete FOSS nerd like me - Mbin is a fork of Kbin that, in their own words:

Mbin is focused on what the community wants, pull requests can be merged by any repo owner (with merge rights in GitHub). Discussions take place on Matrix then consensus has to be reached by the community. If approved by the community, only one approval on the PR is required by one of the Mbin maintainers. It's built entirely on trust.

In short - it's moving faster than Kbin ever was in feature contributions and has even overtaken Lemmy in terms of daily merges. I expect that it could be the dominant "threadiverse" platform in a few years and I think that's where tucson.social will need to be.

Right now that's unfeasible, since that would mean essentially abandoning the instance and starting fresh, so I'm looking into ways to migrate everything over - so everyone isn't required to sign up again.

Then there's the mobile client compatibility. Perhaps Mbin will have a lemmy compatible API layer somewhere in the future. Perhaps mobile clients will catch up. Either way, that also requires more time.

Suffice it to say, tucson.social isn't moving to Mbin anytime this year, or even early next year. In the meantime, I'll probably try to reason out my own lemmy>mbin migration script to speed things along.


So what say you, tucson.social users/contributors?

TL;DR - Do we need communities for national level discourse here at tucson.social? Also, we're planning to eventually move to Mbin and I'm keeping folks informed about those plans.

 

A bit more context there since you might wonder why customers can cause Sev1's.

Well, I work for a Database Technology company and we provide a managed service offering. This managed service offering has SLA's that essentially enforce a 5 minute response time for any "urgent" issue.

Well, a common urgent issue is that the customer suddenly wants to load in a bunch of new data without informing us which causes the cluster to stop accepting write loads.

It's to the point where most if not all urgent pages result in some form of scaling of the cluster.

Since this is a customer driven behavior, there is no real ability to plan for it - and since these particular customers have special requirements (and thus, less ability to automate scaling operations), I'm unsure if there is any recourse here.

It's to the point that it doesn't even feel like an SRE team anymore - we should just instead be called "On-demand scaling agents". Since we're constantly trying to scale ahead of our customers.

All in all, I'm starting to feel like this is a management/sales level issue that I cannot possibly address. If we're selling this managed service offering as essentially "magic" that can be scaled whenever they need then it seems like we're being setup for failure at the organizational level. Not to mention, not being smart about costs behind scaling and factoring that into these contracts.

So, fellow SRE's have you had to have this conversation with a larger org? What works for something like this? What doesn't? Should I just seek greener pastures at this point?

P.S. - Posted c/Programming due to lack of a c/SRE

 

I've tried foam earplugs, but those are impossible to use socially as everything's too muddy. Also they'd end up sliding out eventually.

I eventually bought audiophile grade earplugs and they are FANTASTIC but the flange tips irritate my ears so bad.

I know circumaural headphones work great, but people have a harder time understanding I'm just using them as a filter to even hear them.

 

Hello all!

While it's 13 months and some change away, I think its important to emphasize our rules and code of conduct before things get too heated.

Post Rules:

  1. Local and Arizona Politics only

All posts must be directly related to and have a significant involvement/impact on any of:

  • Policy. This includes any discussion of specific governmental policies or the development of such policies. Government policy can be developed at any level of government (from elected school board to the Arizona Legislature). It also includes court decisions which either create law itself (appellate court decisions) or involve the government.
  • Electioneering. This includes polling, events directly pertaining to elections, and discussion of candidates and political parties, including their platforms and policies.
  • Politician Capacity. Any incident or potential incident that could prevent a current politician from serving in their capacity in government (e.g. death, injury/sickness, criminal prosecution or resignation) is topical. We consider politicians to be either (1) elected members of government; or (2) members of government confirmed/voted on by elected members of government.
  • Advocacy. Any efforts to influence or promote a position on the above 3 areas of topicality. This includes protests, demonstrations and the positions and advocacy of interest groups.
  • Pertinent New Reporting. New articles that cover previously unreported details of past events which both would have been topical if reported when they occurred and have a clear connection to current Arizona or local politics or future elections. Analysis, editorializing, or speculation on prior events with no newly reported facts is not covered under this clause, even if there is a link to current Arizona or local politics.

All posts must at least have a significant internal discussion or focus about current Arizona or Tucson politics as defined above. Therefore, if only a small part of an article contains topical discussion, it may still be considered off-topic.

The following are some common examples of inherently off-topic content:

  • Nonpolitical actions of politicians or their relatives, meaning (1) anything a politician does that doesn't impact one of the 4 areas of politics defined above, (2) discussion of the non-political actions of a politician's relatives.
  • National level politics that doesn't explicitly impact Arizona or Tucson. Even if the macro impact is significant. (National Debt Showdowns, etc)
  • Media discussing other media outlets.
  • Crime stories without direct relation to current Arizona politics, such as (1) shootings, (2) crimes of non-politicians such as donors or activists, and (3) and court decisions not tied explicitly to Arizona politics as defined above.
  1. Articles must be published within the last two weeks

  2. Do not create your own title for Link Posts - Either copy the post title manually, or use Lemmy's suggestion.

  3. All submissions must be in English, Español, or O'odham (Tohono, Akimel, etc.)

  4. Do not resubmit "already submitted" content

  5. Disclosure of employment

Tucson.social expressly forbids users who are employed by a source to post link submissions to that source without broadcasting their affiliation with the source in question.

  1. No Hateful Speech

People that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.

Marginalized or vulnerable groups include, but are not limited to, groups based on their actual and perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or disability. These include victims of a major violent event and their families.

While the rule on hate protects such groups, it does not protect those who promote attacks of hate or who try to hide their hate in bad faith claims of discrimination.

  1. Do not suggest or support harm

Comments that threaten, advocate, celebrate, suggest, wish, hope, dream, express extreme indifference towards, or could result in harm of any kind, violence, or death are prohibited. This includes any comment or opinion post that has the effect of discouraging people from taking the COVID vaccine or playing their part in necessary public health measures.

  1. No Spam

  2. No unapproved bots

Newsbot is approved.

  1. No Brigading

Any user caught assisting a brigade from another instance will be permanently banned. Any instances brigading this one will be defederated immediately.


Comment Rules:

  1. Be civil and constructive at all times.

We understand that sometimes this can slip, so if you are asked politely by a moderator to cool it down - please comply. Being belligerent after this point is not tolerated and will result in a ban.

  1. No Personal Attacks

  2. No trolling, baiting or flaming

Trolling includes, but is not limited to:

  • Commenting or submitting links in a way that can be reasonably interpreted as having the intent to shock, anger, or sow discord without good faith. ¹ ²
  • Baiting is the act of making comments that can be reasonably interpreted as having the intention of getting a rise out of other users and goading other users into violating rules. ²
  • Flaming is the act of attacking other users for their views or opinions and overlaps significantly with our rules on incivility.

¹ Good faith is sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction.

² Trolling and baiting do not include expressing personally held views that are objectively false or in the minority opinion unless they are specifically expressed in a manner intended to gain a rise out of other users.

The followings acts are some examples of trolling:

  • Editing comments to brag about downvotes or entice inflammatory replies Linking to media with the intent to shock, anger, or sow discord without good faith.
  • Bragging about trolling or participating in bad faith on tucson.social, either on this subreddit or elsewhere on the fediverse.
  • Concern trolling; pretending to advocate something not believed in in order to parody, make fun of, or otherwise create discord in a group they disagree with (i.e., playing both sides)
  • Using a title for a submission that shows intent to bypass the prohibition of text posts
  • "Novelty" or "gimmick" accounts
  1. No spam or soliciting users
  2. Do not witch hunt or expose personal information

Do not make calls to action directed at non-public persons. Users are not allowed to post information with the purposes of causing harm to or harassment of other people. This includes but is not limited to: names, telephone numbers, street or email address. Hinting that you have this information of other users may also earn a ban.


 

Not much to say quite yet, but the book is REALLY nice and compliments the offset print version of Stars Without Number quite nicely.

 

Hi All,

For those of you using FoundryVTT, here's the latest pre-release of my fork of PepjinMC's FoundryVTT-AI-Description-Generator.

For those who haven't heard of it, it's a neat module that allows users in your FoundryVTT instance to get quick descriptions of characters, items, and actions with a single button click. Initially it only supported the D&D system, but my fork extends it to work with any system, provided you know the mappings.

For D&D mappings see the settings on my merge-back branch - https://github.com/th3raid0r/FoundryVTT-AI-Description-Generator/blob/dnd-mergeback/scripts/settings.js

For other mappings, you'll likely need to poke around the data yourself and update things manually. If you do this, please send me your system and mappings so I can begin to create a library for less technical folks.

Hope it's useful to some GM's out there! I use it almost every session!

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