tiramichu
@tiramichu@sh.itjust.works
- Comment on xkcd #3186: Truly Universal Outlet 19 hours ago:
The trouble is of course the huge legacy of all the existing sockets you’d have to replace, never mind the pure unpopularity with the public of switching standards.
Possibly the most successful attempt at convergence so far has been the Europlug, but only because it’s a weird compromise. Did you know the europlug prongs aren’t actually parallel? They angle slightly and have a little flex, so they can be accepted in multiple European countries’ sockets that actually have slightly different dimensions! It’s a cool design, but you wouldn’t intentionally design it that way if you had the opportunity to standardise the world from scratch.
- Comment on get out of my head 1 day ago:
What actually happened was centralisation.
We moved from a web made up of lots of tiny websites hosted by individuals, to one of corporate-contolled mainstream social media.
And yes - those sites don’t want any objectionable content because that’s not good for revenue.
So it was censorship, but only made possible because we all collectively decided we would spend our entire Internet browsing time on the same five massive websites, and let them control what we see.
- Comment on I cannot imagine what lawsuit led to this 1 week ago:
The whole “discard if damaged” is likely just standard cover-your-ass legalese which the lawyers will copy-paste on every single product they sell, including this one.
- Comment on Diabolical 1 week ago:
Calling it a “car” as well I’m quite sure pisses him off. Beautiful.
- Comment on No it won’t 2 weeks ago:
Please name it and provide some information so we can check it out.
- Comment on Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead 3 weeks ago:
Well I don’t think there’s any pride in it, they are just going after what is the most profitable at any given time.
That’s exactly why I suspect they will choose to resurrect the Crucial name later, because given a choice between launching a new name nobody knows, or a name people recognise (even if it’s been tarred a bit) then recognised will be the winning and more profitable option.
- Comment on Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead 3 weeks ago:
Probably just the same brand, honestly?
- Comment on Don't expect a SteamOS phone after the Steam Machine, Valve engineer says 3 weeks ago:
It really wouldn’t make sense at all, to me.
Like sure - they could design a Linux phone with their own polished UI, and Proton so it can run Steam games natively, and that would be super cool! But what about the apps?
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that for most people out there a phone is all about apps - in fact, completely synonymous with apps - and the sad truth is that Android and iOS have an absolute stranglehold on the app market.
There have been (and still are) efforts to develop Linux phones, but they are generally seen as rough experiments which for most people require far too much compromise - with one of the most significant compromises being that you give up all your apps.
Valve’s recent hardware successes haven’t come from making experiments for dedicated nerds, but from making polished hardware devices that you can put in the hands of a consumer and just work, and do everything they expect. That’s the strategy.
Now don’t get me wrong - I’d love to see a big-hitter like Valve with some financial clout try to make a phone. But this is an arena where even Microsoft failed, and heavens knows how much money they poured into phones before pulling the plug.
I’d love it, but I don’t think it aligns at all with Valve’s strategy, and I don’t expect to see it.
- Comment on Chimes 3 weeks ago:
Plap plap plap
- Comment on NEVER OBSOLETE 3 weeks ago:
That’s right. There’s an insightful blog article if you want to learn the full story.
You could get your PC upgraded for $99 if you also bought 24 months of dial-up Internet service through them. But you had to pay shipping both ways, and be out the use of your computer while you did it! So I don’t imagine almost anyone took them up on the offer - meaning that really it was a carefully crafted almost-scam.
That said, their machines were very competitively priced even without the deal and really disrupted the incumbents, making them good value machines even if you didn’t take them up on the “never obsolete” offer.
- Comment on By technical standards were 3D TVs impressive, Why didn't they catch on back then? 4 weeks ago:
They made 3D TVs with passive glasses too, I had one. Still have actually, working fine 10 years later.
Has some neat tricks like coming with two pairs of “game” glasses that are effectly two left lenses for one person and two right lenses for the other, giving the ability to play a two-player split screen game with each player having a full-screen view (albeit stretched) and not being able to see the other! Trippy.
IMO the reason they didn’t catch on wasn’t the technology, just that it genuinely didn’t add much to the movie watching experience. What makes a movie worth watching continues to be the movie itself, and in some ways 3D - which was meant to be “immersive”- was actually just a distraction from the movie which frequently reminds you you’re actually just sat in a room watching a screen, rather than letting you get into the story.
- Comment on Valve confirm the Steam Machine will be priced like a PC with similar specs, rather than a console 4 weeks ago:
Sure, for real.
Of course, it isn’t like you can’t build yourself a small PC. I’ve got a build in a Fractal Design Terra with a beefy GPU, and that thing is barely bigger than a shoebox.
But building small is even more daunting than building large, so IMO it ties into the same angle of people wanting something that is premade and a product that just works, right down to the SteamOS operating system it ships with.
- Comment on Valve confirm the Steam Machine will be priced like a PC with similar specs, rather than a console 4 weeks ago:
They can’t, and they won’t.
The way I see it, the people the Steam Machine is meant for are these:
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People who are sick of the increasingly predatory nature of console gaming and want to switch to PC, but don’t have the confidence or knowledge to build their own
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People who are similarly sick of Windows bullshit and want to try Linux, but don’t have the confidence or knowledge to do it themselves
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People with plenty of cash who fancy an extra gaming PC to put under the TV
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Valve fans who will buy anything Valve releases, no matter what
IMO it’s not trying to compete against consoles directly, and especially not on price, it’s trying to be an alternative to people who are already sick of consoles.
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- Comment on HP and Dell disable HEVC support built into their laptops’ CPUs 4 weeks ago:
The headline is a little misleading.
As I understand it, they haven’t retroactively removed the HEVC capability from any devices that already shipped with it already enabled.
Rather, they have stopped including it in new ones of the same model or in certain new models, even though those machines still have CPUs which have the capability built in for it.
This has resulted in e.g. businesses buying a laptop which works fine for conference calls and other stuff, then buying another laptop the “exact same” and suddenly it’s nerfed.
- Comment on Valve Announces New Steam Machine, Steam Controller & Steam Frame 1 month ago:
You’d have to assume so!
- Comment on Steam Hardware [new Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and VR headset Steam Frame, coming in 2026] 1 month ago:
You have to remember, the price isn’t only due to the hardware.
We often still think of “hardware” as if it’s some tool we actually own like a wrench or a hammer, and the price of it should depend on the cost.
But in the modern world the electronic hardware we buy is subsidised through gated ecosystems and by profiting from slurping data and selling ads.
The reality is that Meta hardware is priced aggressively low to encourage adoption - on the basis of all the money they expect to make later from your data. Same with smart TVs and everything else with a similar business model.
Valve’s hardware will seem exoensive but that’s just the price you have to pay in the modern world for some small amount of control and privacy.
Personally, I’ll pay it gladly.
- Comment on Nearly 90% of Windows Games now run on Linux, latest data shows 1 month ago:
I guess the beefier your system is the less you will notice the impact of a greedy OS (because thats a fixed/absolute overhead) while the performance hit of having to translate directx through Proton will always be there (because that’s a percent-based overhead for each rendered frame)
So for the most top-end rigs, probably still Windows will squeeze a few more FPS.
At the end of the day Linux and Windows are both pretty comparable for gaming performance, so we don’t need to worry about that as a deciding factor in which OS to choose, and can decide based on other merits.
- Comment on Nearly 90% of Windows Games now run on Linux, latest data shows 1 month ago:
On the other hand, some testing has found that running games on Linux with Proton is actually faster than with Windows on the same hardware, because Windows is such a resource hog.
The hardware in in this test being the Legion Go steamdeck rival.
- Comment on YSK before you buy a replacement for your cellphone that has stopped charging, buy the $10 cleaning kits and spend the time deep cleaning the phone's charging port. 1 month ago:
Sure. But that’s intended to detect shorts caused by water, and water is a much worse electrical conductor than a piece of metal, and so less damaging in the time it takes to detect a short.
Even if phones have some level of protection, why risk damage when you could use something wooden and just not risk it at all?
- Comment on NOW! 1 month ago:
Thanks.
Seems like CCC may no longer be the best choice, but it is still a free choice, and the article doesn’t seem to suggest they are falsifying their data.
Good to know, thanks.
- Comment on NOW! 1 month ago:
This custom SKU trick is also used by retailers to advertise “We’ll price match any other store!” when technically the only store who sells that exact SKU is them!
(Of course some retailers are genuine when they offer to price match, it’s not always a scam)
- Comment on NOW! 1 month ago:
Do you have a source on that? I can’t find any mention of this from having a quick search just now.
- Comment on YouTube is taking down videos on performing nonstandard Windows 11 installs 1 month ago:
It’s not in their interest for people to switch to something actually good that they will want to stay on, though.
- Comment on What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading 1 month ago:
Because this is not about security. Security is nothing more than the sufrace-level excuse.
This is about removing user freedom, and consolidating corporate control. This is about ensuring that every app and service you use is approved by the big G, and consumed in the way they want - with ads, with tracking, and with nothing you can do about it.
- Comment on I'd like to control my air-purifier with one of those power-socket-timer-switch thingies – Is there a way to "auto-press" those non-mechanical buttons? 1 month ago:
For anyone who needs a cheap but functional air filter which DOES do this, IKEA’s UPPÅTVIND remembers its last setting when turned back on.
- Comment on Are there good Movies, TV Shows, Anime, with wholesome family (particularly parent-child) relations? 1 month ago:
Watch out though, because while the TV anime ends on a sweet note, and you should probably stop there, the manga ends with time-skipping forwards 10 years to when they start a romantic relationship together.
- Comment on Are there good Movies, TV Shows, Anime, with wholesome family (particularly parent-child) relations? 1 month ago:
Kakushigoto is really good.
It is the story of a single-parent manga artist who is ashamed of his work and goes to great lengths to keep it from his young daughter.
The story begins when the girl, now older, discovers her Father’s job, and is told through flashbacks to her growing up and life with her father who was always trying his best for her.
I can’t find the official trailer with subtitles but it gives you the idea. Trailer.
- Comment on Nokia solos 1 month ago:
To be fair, probably his back would pop off, and his battery would shoot out across the floor like a missile, but then he’d go back together like nothing ever happened.
- Comment on As Microsoft Forces Users to Ditch Windows 10, It Announces That It’s Also Turning Windows 11 into an AI-Controlled Monstrosity 2 months ago:
Yes, that’s right. Steam can play windows-only games via Proton, which is the exact same thing they are doing on Steam Deck. Steam Deck is what really motivated a lot of work in this area, and why the situation is so good these days.
It sounds like you’ve already got plenty of Linux machines, so perhaps try it for yourself and see.
- Comment on As Microsoft Forces Users to Ditch Windows 10, It Announces That It’s Also Turning Windows 11 into an AI-Controlled Monstrosity 2 months ago:
Steam is absolitely the EASIEST way to run games on Linux.
It abstracts Wine, Proton and all the other dependencies so you don’t have to think about it much.
You just install it, download and play exactly the same as you would on Windows.