Hillock

@Hillock@kbin.social

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Weekly 'What are you playing?' Discussion⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Started playing yesterday, I can agree. I just need to get used to playing slower. It's so easy to put it on speed three and then suddenly I am falling behind and can't deal with the issues anymore.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How many of you actually use the headphone jack on your phone?⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I almost exclusively use wired headphones. Only time I use the Bluetooth is when going the gym.

  I don't feel like the cable is inconvenient at all. But there are advantages in the two things I care. Better audio quality and no battery to worry about. So I prefer the wired one and use my headphone jack almost daily.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I dunno, still might be aliens with this one.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  As another idiot, there is a difference between tusks and teeth. They are different, tusks don't contain enamel for example and I think aliens could also determine this difference. It's rare for teeth to stick out like in the reconstruction.

  They would also be able to determine that hippos can open their mouth extremely wide. Making it more likely for the long "fangs" to be at least partially covered like in sabertooth cats rather than exposed like the tusks of elephants.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit From a Sexual Abuse Survivor⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I can only assume but the first few pictures where probably coerced and after wards she was threatened to send more or he would release them. That definitely counts as forced. She was only 11 and this thing went on for 3 years. It's definitely not just "look what you made me do".

  You can force someone to do something without being physically present.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨abandonware empires⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Companies used to release switchboard schematics and detailed instructions on how to maintain an repair their products all the time. Products becoming unrepairable and unsupported is a relatively new trend.

  That's why people are now trying to get the government involved to reverse that trend and go back to the old times where you had access to everything you needed to maintain your equipment.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨abandonware empires⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Because it's often not worth the investment. You would pay a shit ton for a one time conversion of data that is still accessible.

  If the software became open source, because the company abandoned it, then that cost could potentially be brought down significantly.

  You are also missing the parts where functional hardware loses support. Which is even worse in my opinion.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Were can find a list of Safe Sites where buy Seam Games/Keys/Bundles??⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  The transaction with kinguin is safe. They even offer a cheap protection against non-working keys, so you are guaranteed to get a working key.

  The big issue is the keys themselves aren't always obtained legally. And then it can take a while for the key to get deactivated. By that point you are usually out of luck trying to get your money back or a new key.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1m yuan for using virtual private network⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  No, that alone doesn't break any employment or tax laws in most countries. You just have to declare it properly and pay your taxes. And the employer has to follow local employment laws as if it were a local company. But that just means following the maximum allowed working hours, mandatory holidays, minimum wage, etc.

  China is one of the few countries that might have an issue with people working for foreign companies in general.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1m yuan for using virtual private network⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  That kind of punishment is used all the time in the USA. It's criminal and/or civil forfeiture depending on the circumstances. But just as in the case in China it's mostly applied on people who can't fight back. Big mega corporation are mostly safe from it. But occasionally it hits rich people.

  Civil forfeiture is even heavily abused in the USA because the police department gets to keep the seized money and the burden of proof is shifted. The person who's assets have been seized needs to provide proof of their innocence.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1m yuan for using virtual private network⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  It's ridiculous how the crime of using the VPN is just a 200 yuan fee. But the income is considered illegal because of it and they can just seize his entire salary earned, which amounted to just over 1 million yuan.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I am not really sure what you mean with their settlement. If you just mean the existence of Israel, then yes it's fine to support that. If you are talking about their actual settlement policies, then no. I don't think supporting a system of displacing people you deem "inferior" or "unwanted" to make room for "superior" people should be supported.

  How to feel about the military response to the attacks is purely a personal choice. A fight against terrorists is never clean. And whether or not the amount of "collateral damages" is acceptable is up to you. I personally think that the attack by Hamas were extreme enough to warrent the response by the IDF. I don't think you can expect someone to just turn the other cheek in this scenario. But I totally understand people who say any amount of civilian casualties is too much.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ever received a parcel notification that seemed a bit off? 📦⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Knowing I had to look out for something spotting the IPS was easy. Don't know if it would have been as obvious without knowing something is wrong. But I receive so many fake parcel emails (at least at one of my email addresses) that checking the website/app rather than klicking a link is the default option. And I usually add the email adress of the legitimate shops to my contacts so I can easily filter out emails from new e-mail addresses and ignore them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Did you know there's a Star Trek version of Settlers of Catan? Did you also know Wil Wheaton and Jeri Ryan played it together? Behold.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I am slightly annoyed that they didn't use the Starfarers of Catan as the base for this game. Would have made more sense.

  But I suppose Starfarers just isn't as popular so that's why I am only slightly annoyed.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Considering how many people live near the coast it would still be a huge step forward. Right now even for most coastal cities desalination isn't cost effective and they have to import water from inland.

  And by not having to deliver as much water from inland to the coast that water can be distributed more for people living inland.

  Yes, it's not going to make inhospitable areas liveable but it's not just "cool".

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is your job interview ritual?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Head over to the website of the company go to the about section and read about their values. They usually list something like teamwork, communication, working autonomously, speed, or quality. You pick 2-3 of these values and that's what you talk about when they ask about yourself.

  For the actual technical part it's hard to prepare for. Most people don't actually care about you being perfect but just want to see if you actually are familiar with what you said you are. So as long as you have an idea what you are talking about you will be fine.

  Even if you don't know the answer, just come up with something that could work. Don't just say you don't know. Explain your train of thought as to why your solution could work. And any other ideas you might have.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨20+ years of xp, interviews are still hard, still dunno what to do with carrear⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  First take some time to actually define the lifestyle you want. It's very easy in today's world to get tunnel vision on your career. But once you have financial stability more money doesn't necessarily make you happier. Trying to move up the career ladder could prevent you from enjoying life. That's where the saying "money doesn't make happy" comes from.

  But if advancing is important to you there are still ways to achieve this. Consider moving abroad for a few years. Especially the middle east has ton of good job offers and since many people you will work with there aren't English native speakers your pronunciation shouldn't hold you back. UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain all have a very vibrant expat community. They are more likely to value your experience and offer you a higher position. Then after 2-3 years you can go back with a stronger CV.

  Or you can consider picking up a remote job, move to a tropical island and enjoy a more relaxed life. That's what I did (not as a programmer but still remote work). A salary that barely let's you survive in the west let's you have a very comfortable lifestyle. You only have to consider the visa issue but for most countries that means just leaving for 1-2 days every 90 days. And with the extra spare money taking short flights/vacations is easily doable.

  Both option obviously depend a bit on your social life.

  I only have very limited knowledge about programming. But I do know that some languages are fairly new. So you switching around isn't necessarily bad. Just focus on something that's fairly new and then you are on a level playing field.

  And if you haven't done so yet. Spend a few bucks on a professional CV writer. If your interview rate is so low there is a good chance your CV is bad.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Voter ID in England led to racial and disability discrimination, report finds⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I think the biggest issue is simply that there was no need to change the system if there was no problem to begin with. Any changes to the system would lead to some people losing their ability to vote for no good reason.

  If they stick with the law for a few decades no one will care anymore because everyone is used to it. But this year 14,000 people lost the ability to vote and they prevented 0.4 people from commiting voter fraud. That's not very proportional.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why is the legal system so expensive?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Overall the legal system isn't nearly as expensive as people think it is. Most cases can be dealt with for a few hundred dollars or less. Especially small court claims sometimes even prohibits the use of lawyers, so the only cost ist your time + getting a few documents.

  But as the complexity of the case increases so does the price. And that's because you pay for a lot of time of people with specialized knowledge. But that's true for every profession.

  These cases are what people usually talk about. These are the cases that get media attention. No one talks about the small court claims between Bob and John that took 30 minutes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Small children are well known to be afraid of voids (closets, under the bed) in their sleeping area. Knowing this, why don't we design children's rooms to eliminate them?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Kids are afraid of being alone in the dark. The monster under the bed or in the closet is just how they communicate their fear.

  I had a room similar to what you suggested. No big closets and an elevated bed. But I still got scared sometimes. And the only things that helped were being in a well lit room and or not being alone.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What foods would be best to give to someone living on the streets in a very hot/humid country?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Why not just leave a small amount of money so they can buy it themselves? It would solve all issues. From allergies, spoiling, and attracting insects or stray dogs.

  Because you run into the issue that most healthy things that don't spoil are rather hard. And many homeless people have issues with their teeth and can't eat that. So you either leave something less healthy, like sealed soft bread or you ignore food safety rules.

  Which isn't as big of a deal in Asia. Even affluent people ignore it. Foods to look out for would be anything with a lot of soy sauce or vinegar. They tend to last a bit longer. And while it sounds stereotypical, anything with rice will be appreciated.

  Leaving fruits could also work.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is charging electric car at holiday house "theft"?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  The size is exactly what matters. I think we can all agree that filling up a 5,000 gallon water tank with tap water from a vacation home isn't acceptable use.

  So the only question is at what point becomes the use too much. A single car might seem harmless but what if it's a group of 4 all arriving with their own car, charging it at the home.

  Clarifying what's acceptable and what isn't, is the right decision.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Republicans know their voter base is slowly dying out. Younger generations tend to vote more and more Democratic. To counter this decline in voter base the Republicans have to increase the number of younger generations that would become Republican voters.

  A lot of women who opt for an abortion do so because they aren't ready for a baby. If they suddenly are forced to give birth, they are very likely to be stuck in the lower middle class. Their children are unlikely to go to college. And then the Republicans blame immigrants and other minorities for their struggles. Luring them to vote Republican.

  After abortion ban we will see restrictions on birth control, to further increase the number of children born. Next will be restrictions on divorces, forcing families into the lifestyle Republicans want or further increasing the amount of lower middle class people. Who, due to having a child, can't start fighting the system and instead are glad to hold a job. So it's a win-win situation for Republicans.

  Also, everyone knows the no-abortion rule doesn't apply to them and only to "others" because their abortion had "reasons" that are "different" from others.

  And of course there is the big fear of "white people are being bred out". The fear of white people becoming a minority is very ingrained in Republicans. But the current economic system also relies on a constant increasing population. With birthrates decling the system starts to fail. So the only options are, increase birth rates, allow more immigrants, or change the economic system. Only one option aligns with Republicans.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Insurance Company Flew a Drone to Take Photos of Man's House and Canceled His Policy⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I agree that the insurance company has a right to regular inspections to spot potential risks and take action before something happens. But they should then come up with a solution rather than cancel the policy. If they told the homeowner to clean up the backyard or they will have to increase the policy/cancel it then that would be acceptable. But letting insurance companies cancel whenever they feel like it makes no sense and defeats the purpose. What's next? Flood insurance cancels your policy because heavy rain is expected?

  But they definitely should have to schedule a time for the inspection. No one should be able to just film your backyard whenever they feel like it. There are tons of things one might do in their backyard they don't want others to film.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Need to get off the grid fast. Is a gas or diesel generator my best option?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Neither can be realistically installed in a couple of weeks. Depending on where you live, the waiting time for a battery is already 3-4 weeks.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Need to get off the grid fast. Is a gas or diesel generator my best option?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  You probably want a gas generator since diesel smells terrible and you don't want that anywhere near your home.

  You just need to make sure you get one that can run long enough without having to stop. Most portable can't even run an entire day. If you get a stand by generator, that shouldn't be an issue. But you might still need to take a break once a week.

  In general gas generators require more maintenance and have a shorter lifespan. But you probably want to switch to another energy source all together. A generator is. only good for 10,000-30,000 hours. Which is 1-4 years if you are using it every day.

  A diesel generator would last longer and is easier to repair. So if you plan on using a generator for the next few decades, get a diesel. But I would suggest adding solar power asap and then only using the generator as backup. That way even a gas generator could last 20-50 years.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Need to get off the grid fast. Is a gas or diesel generator my best option?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Since this would be a short term solution, a gas generator is probably your better choice. Diesel generator smell terrible and you don't want that near your home.

  Gas generators need more maintenance and have a shorter lifespan than diesel but that shouldn't matter since long term you would want to switch to another energy source all together.

  Just add up the electricity you need and get a generator that makes enough, probably in the 5-7000 watt range.

  For cooking you can also get a gas stove. You can buy a smaller 1-2 burner one or a full on stove and just hook it up to a gas cannister instead of the gas outlet in your home.