Randox
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Posts posted by Randox
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I don't think the choice of program matters all that much. I mean, do absolutely pick something with modern features that is actively used, but learning the concepts behind the programming is ultimately more important than the language, because the concepts are transferable. Once you've learned to program in one language, it's a lot easier to move into other languages.
Python seems to be well regarded as a first language since it's not only popular, but the syntax is dead simple. That means less time learning how to write Python, and more time spent learning how to program in a more general sense, so that's certainly a good route to go. Java is also pretty popular as a teaching language. You'll spend more time on the nuts and bolts of how to write programs than you would with Python, which can be frustrating at the start for sure, but it might also make it easier to quickly move into at least some of the other languages down the road.
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I got into Forth because of Minecraft; it was used by one of the computer mods. I think the difficulty or using Forth turned a lot of people off, but at the time I was only just beginning to learn programming anyway, and Forth seemed easier to pick up than Lua, which the other computer mod of the time used (and I think that one still exists). It was a perfect language for that kind of hardware control task. Apparently it's also very easy to maintain. Just wouldn't want to read it (I'm sure it gets easier with practice, but at my level of familiarity it might as well be a magic spell).
I'll have to do more with Python to know exactly where I stand on writing it. I like the formatting, and the consistency in keywords (it doesn't have the situation in Java where things like '==' work very differently on data primitives like int than they do on object references like String). See if I still feel the same way writing something more complete.
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Brings to mind a particular helmet cam video I saw. Sport bike. Dude went over with his girlfriend/wife on the back. Both in full riding gear, which was a pretty solid call since I think they slid far enough that the leather was probably getting a little thin.
I gave Python a shot today. Found a program (freePIE) that can be used to map a virtual controller (from vJoy) to a keyboard. I need to try out Python some more, in an actual programming context (freePIE is really just using it as a scripting language). Was actually a pretty fun language to pick up on the fly; it has a very natural syntax that works exactly like you would expect it to. The only other program I've ever really felt that way about is the extremely unambiguous FORTH (FORTH does exactly what you tell it to, and pretty much nothing else). That's not why I like FORTH though, I'm just a fan of Reverse Polish Notation.
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I've never been a huge fan of watching plays, but I did find them reasonably enjoyable when I got to participate. When I was in High School we did this thing where all the classes would divide up a single play such that every student got to be in one, sometimes two scenes. It could be a little confusing to watch, but I thought it was a good way to do things.
My favourite though was when the drama students did a Cabaret style show and I got on the pit band. There were only 5 of us, instructor included, and we basically got a couple days off school to do rehearsals with the drama club. They also let (or made) us join them for their warm up exercises. Anyway, it was kind of like being in drama for all the fun parts without most of the work or memorising lines, so that was fun. The theatre also didn't have an actual pit for us, so we set up in the back corner where we could watch the whole thing (from behind).
I think one year we went to see a performance of Hamlet where a lot of his lines were split off and used by two new characters, who were basically his conscience (the devil and angel). It was certainly a neat take, though it took me a while at the time to realise the conscience characters were just that, and none of the other characters could see or hear them.
The year we saw Midsummer Nights Dream we got a glossary (which is my favourite of his plays that I am familiar with).
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It certainly limits my reddit activities. That said, boards like TechSupport or BuildAPC tend to be good neutral ground away from the usual 'sides' (TechSupport has no inherent sides, and BuildAPC is a rare place where AMD and Nvidia fans aren't flinging shit at each other). Other than that, I mostly go there for game discussions when steam is being too childish.
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Finally got around to trying to run two graphics cards (independently). Tried it first with my old 6770, but it turns out that Windows 10 can't run two different GPU drivers at once, and the RX 480 and HD 6770 don't use the same drivers. But the RX 480 and HD 7950 do. Not sure if, performance wise, this will actually help anything. Could be a total disaster. I just want to see if it changes the pitch of the coil whine on my PSU to something I can't hear (maybe, but it's also made some of the fans louder). There is also the 'because I can' factor.
Anyway, it seems to work without tanking my normal performance, though I'm not sure I'll stick with this or not. On the upside, if I ever need (or own) 12 monitors I'm all set :thumbsup:
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I sympathise with the debugging. I've hit a point more than one where the effort I was putting into fixing an issue was rivaling the work I put into writing the program in the first place.
I despise GUI's. My interest is in backend work. I like the logic and data manipulation, but I find most of the front end stuff to be rather tedious. I can't speak to web development though. I've not touched that in...14 years or so. When I was younger I learned the HTML and CSS needed to make guild themes for neopets by reading a couple online guides and looking at source code, but I fear if I were to make a web page now I would likely do formatting by tables...which is perfectly fine if every person who will ever visit your site uses the same resolution you do.
I actually caught a couple websites that still format with tables as of maybe 2 years ago as a result of browsing the web on my old phone. Ah, the good old days when everyone used 640x480, truly the most perfect of all resolutions :D
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Full service stations are something that died out here during my lifetime. There is a premium for full service here, and gas just got too expensive for most people to want to spend that extra money, except if you were in a hurry and there was a lineup for all the self serve lanes. Few, if any, gas stations here still have full service pumps.
I expect the cost is less of an issue if full service is mandated by law. Even if there is a premium on the gas price associated with it, you aren't sitting there looking at a pump that's 5 cents cheaper right next to you. Out of sight, out of mind.
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Picked up Jagged Alliance: Back in Action.
My favourite LP'er did some videos on this a while back along with some similar but turn based games. It looked like a lot of fun, and I much prefer pausable realtime combat to turn based combat*, so this seemed like a good fit. Also, most of the negative reviews seem to be from people who played other JA games, which I have not. Not very far in, I've yet to hit the difficulty cliff(s), but I know what I'm in for and I'm not bothered. The LP'er didn't finish the game though (his mercs got wiped out a few hours in), so it will be interesting once I don't have his gameplan to follow (the same thing for Crusader Kings 2. I used his start as my own so that I could use his videos as training wheels, but I've progressed further than his series in that game as well. I just have to hope he got far enough to teach me what I needed to learn).
*note: When I was like 12 I was at a friends house and I saw his older brother playing a turn based civil war game. I had never seen a game without realtime combat before, and it just struck me as so stupid that people would stand there and let the opponent shoot at them. I've never really gotten past that first impression, and while I now appreciate the different tactics and style of play afforded by turn based comabt, there is still that part of me going 'don't just stand there [wagon] - shoot back!'.
EDIT: A little further into the game now, and it is quite fantastic. Good varrity in layouts and combat too, so I get a good mix of setting up assaults, methodical building clearing, and even some chances for a good old fashioned firing line (when defending locations. So satisfying). -
Diet is such a difficult thing to navigate, and we've done nothing as a society to make it easier on ourselves. On the one side, we keep declaring certain things to be blanket good or bad (only to find out later that we did so with a 'four humors' level of understanding of nutritional science), and on the other end food companies have incredible leeway to be misleading or omit details about what is in our food (if they aren't outright lying). So you're stuck trying to figure out who is giving the least wrong nutritional advice while also trying to figure out what it is you're actually eating. I think even for people who can afford to be choosy about what they consume, they just give up trying to sort it out and eat whatever.
That's not to say that we shouldn't be trying to figure this stuff out. Just, the more we learn the more obvious it seems to be that nutrition is a proper medical field, and should be treated as such; not some headline fodder pseudo science.
If I had to take a stab at what medical blunder we will be ridiculed for by future generations, not taking nutrition seriously would certainly make my list of potential nominations.
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I get why it happens, but I don't see the point. I mean, they're going to find out your lying when they see you, and that's not a great foundation for relationship building, so it just seems like a huge waste of everyone's time. At the same time, I acknowledge that we are fickle creatures and there is a real chance that personality can walk through the door you open by fudging some details.
I happened to look at my Windows logs today and noticed that my secondary hard drive has been throwing a bad block error since at least June of last year, which prompted me to fire up a program to read the smart values which are now reporting unrecoverable sectors (which despite the event logs, is new as of the last 2-3 months since I last checked), so I guess it's time for another new hard drive. In fairness, I've been using this drive for like 7 years now and it's logged 14,500 hours, so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of it.
Maybe someday it will stop snowing and I'll go buy that replacement. Seriously, it hasn't stopped snowing/hailing for nearly 36 hours now. Where was this on Christmas >.>
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Fired up Spintires for the first time in a while. Apparently there were some major issues while I wasn't playing, but they've been cleared up since, so that's nice for me. It's not a game I could play for many days in a row, but I do always come back to it, and I think I will continue to do so for a while. There is just nothing else like it.
The only think I want is a map with an emphasis on mountainous terrain crossing rather than mostly being oriented around mud. I get that mud is the bread and butter of the game, but I remember one of the earlier demos (which I think had only the jeep) had an object that needed to be picked up on the top of a hill, and it was a serious challenge to get to it without simply rolling over or sliding down the hill. The suspension and physics modeling in Spintires seems to be up to that task, since they had to do it to properly model traction anyway.
Still can't do the flood map. I don't really like a lot of water because you can't see. Not being able to see is fair, but trial and error isn't fun on a map like that, especially in my preferred hard mode, because a mistake can cost you a vehicle outright. I should grab the editor, I can probably use that to see where the routes are. Maybe make a map someday too.
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Please join me in welcoming @Arceus to his new role as a Tip.It administrator. Arceus has been doing fantastic work heading up our crew these past few months, and will now be taking on an administrative role as well to help manage the site.
Welcome to the red team!
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As long as school proceedings don't get in the way of criminal proceedings if the affected party wishes to press charges. There seem to be issues with certain universities creating an atmosphere of...I'll say fear, in regards to anyone who takes a complain of say, rape, to the police instead of the university. If someone wants to just go through the university system, then fine, that's their choice. But they should never face punishment from their own school should they decide to take the matter to the police, either directly, or as a result of being unsatisfied with the outcome of the university system.
In this sense, the biggest problem with allowing criminal matters like this to go through university hearings is that it sets them up as a legitimate alternative to the justice system, which in turn gives them the power to 'encourage' students to keep these kinds of matters in house. I don't have a perfect answer to this. Taking accusations of sexual assault or rape to the criminal justice system is often a grueling process, to the point where even those who do get convictions against their attackers sometimes regret taking the matter to court in the first place. In that sense, university hearings can actually be a wonderful alternative for the victim. On the other hand, the fact that we accept that schools should have the right to handle certain criminal behaviors in house is what allows some of them to discourage people who do want to go to the police from doing so.
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Is the school aware of your restraining order? I'd think it would be pretty hard for this person to be employed at the same place as you if you have this restraining order requiring them to stay away.
This is a good idea, it's a situation where a restraining order can really help.
Just...be vigilant. Restraining orders are useful things to have, and I certainly advocate on the side of obtaining and using them. But they aren't force fields.
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I got a new phone, a DTEK 50. It was a spur of the moment thing since I happened to spot one on a massive sale (though I was already planning on getting one) so I don't have a SIM card for it yet. Other than not functioning as an actual phone though, I am please so far, though the reputation for having too small a battery would seem to be richly deserved (fortunately I already have a portable battery for recharging phones, so it shouldn't be a huge deal). I'm also a little upset about not having a physical keyboard and trackpad, but there was nothing that had those features that I wanted or could afford, and my current phone (torch) is slowly falling apart (also horrifically outdated).
In any event, I get to have a Blackberry for at least one more cycle, and if TCL can make the brand work and BB keeps making the software then with any luck it wont be the last. They're the last phone brand that can even pretend to be secure, and that doesn't seem like a bad thing to me. That and the previous 3 have treated me well, so why mess with what works.
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Hordes are OP. I currently personally hold a raised horde of over 80k horse archers and lancers. I own pretty much most of the world and according to ledger my army is 8 times as large as the next one in the world.
However, succession is gonna be harsh... Everyone can choose independence instead of my successor's rule...
I've not gotten far enough into the game to see stuff like that yet. At like year 830 in my first game :D
I did become King of England, and made my wife a vassal. However, all those counties have retained Gavalkind Succession, which I am displeased with. It seems the only way to fix that would be to destroy all the ducal titles and reform them, which should allow them to inherit the Primogeniture I want to be using. I expect that if my King continues to not be assassinated, then towards the end of his expected life I am going to go on a bit of a tyranny rampage and clean up some of the titles and lines of succession. I didn't plan things out nicely for giving out my ducal titles, so things are a bit of a mess. I am currently retaining the Duchies of Essex and Wessex for myself, and I want to divest myself of my county holdings in other duchies and trade them for the counties in Essex I am missing. I figure I'm going to pretty unpopular no matter what anyway (at any given time I usually have ~5 of the deadly sins, which in addition to not having clean distribution of titles means a lot of people still hate me), so might as well go for it. Northumbria is an issue though. I don't think I can easily grab that title for myself so I can destroy and remake it.
I suppose it's not a huge deal though since my personal holdings are all in the south with clear lines of succession, so my personal levies aren't at risk, and as king, I get my vassal levies regardless of what going on in the North. As long as they don't kill each other (though I think they're trying. My wife has been revoking titles like mad since I brought Northumbria into the fold).
Mercia is still holding on. I had to take a break since I was gaining too much threat. I think I've also managed to set myself up for a future claim on the Kingdom of Pictland. I also need to check because I think I actually have an automatic Casus Belie on Mercia that I've totally forgotten about (since they are a de jure part of my Kingdom).
Oh, and I've gone heretical twice, but I have the prestige to instantly convert back so it's just been a huge boon to my piety. I wish I would get the Cathar Heresy. I might actually keep that one for the Absolute Cognatic succession law. It has been a frustrating pattern that my first born is always female, and is often the best heir I ever produce. Besides, it makes the lines of succession infinitely more interesting. If it comes soon, I should be strong enough to survive sticking with it too. France just exploded into another succession war, and I like my chances if Pictland or Ireland comes for me. This would be the ruler too, since I'm not really worried about opinion at this point. Demon Children would not seem to be easily killed.
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Jumped back into Crusader Kings 2, managed to remember what I was doing when I left off. Mostly.
I am now on my third ruler, and they are a Demon Child, which has made things...interesting. My ruler died shortly before the Demon Child came of age. Mercifully, I had a loyal regent who didn't trash my crown authority during the transition, but my current ruler has been widely despised since they became (Petty) King, and if not for the good work of my Chancellor, there would have been civil war (A Petty King is what the English call an independent Duke. My primary title becomes a Petty Kingdom instead of a Duchy, but is the same rank. To be a 'King' I need to hold a Kingdom level title).
Also, when I was playing before, I apparently arranged an absolute coup of a marriage. I control southern (nearly) half of England. Above me are the pretty Kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. My current (3rd) ruler married the sister of the Queen of Northumbria, arranged by his father.
Since my current ruler is largely despised (the whole demon thing has given him a bunch of generally undesirable traits. I also hold a lot of ducal titles, and every single one of my vassals wants at least one of them), I can't get any meaningful troops from my vassals (which defeats the whole point of feudalism, but whatever), but my ruler was able to increase his demesne by revoking titles for two very strong counties that were in possession of people who wanted to overthrow me during the regency, which I though provided me with enough personal levies to press my wife's claim on Northumbria in war.
In retrospect, I don't think I would have won, at least not without mercenaries. My army wasn't powerful enough by a sufficient margin and was taking losses from the start that likely would have been unsustainable. However, as luck would have it, the Demon Child gets an even in their first war which summons 3 'witches' who can serve in council posistions, really like me, and have excellent skills. They also gave me a 1,500 strong army which bolstered me back up to over 4,000 troops. Even after Mercia, West Francia, and some other minor power joined Northumbria against me, I was able to win.
However, I don't get the Northumbrian title for myself, since I pressed it on behalf of my wife. However, since we are married and like each other, it was nothing to form an alliance. That means that whatever happens, I will not have to fight Northumbria, and should be able to have them fight alongside me (and I along side them, since it goes both ways). My son is heir to my Petty Kingdom of Wessex, and now also heir to the Petty Kingdom of Northumbria, which together form most of the Kingdom of England, which will make it easy to found. I'd like to do it earlier, but my current ruler doesn't have the needed piety (keeps losing it torturing prisoners), and I would still need to bring a few more counties under my direct control. My threat level would now seem to be high enough that trying to do that through more war could be dangerous (everyone will unite against me).
Also, because these are Petty Kingdoms, the naming of titles has gotten a bit funny.
I am King Alfred of Wessex, Petty King of Wessex, Duke of Essex, Hwice, and Kent, King of Northumbria.
It's just the way the titles are handled by the game, where it drops the 'Petty' from the title listings for the spouse.
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Yeah, that's like the chart I used to have. From that, I guess -11 is probably as low as the windchill can really get at -1C.
We've lost power once so far for a couple hours. Didn't expect we would be getting it back until tomorrow morning, so either the wind died down long enough for a line to be fixed, or they were able to do something to work around it for the rest of us. Fun day.
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We're supposed to be having some kind of awesome winter storm today. Certainly having the wind, which started last night as predicted and should go on into tomorrow morning. Not so sure we're gotten any of the snow yet though. That said, at 70 km/h sustained winds, and 115 km/h gusts, the wind might just be clearing the driveway. I'll not complain about that.
Just hope to keep power. I have wood for a fire, but starting one in these winds, especially a nor'easter, is a good chance of blowing smoke back into the house. Should have made the fire last night so the fireplace could warm up again from ambient temperature. It's opening the door to build a fire that kills you; any warm air in the chimney and fireplace gets blown back into the house by the wind, and now getting an up-draft is that much harder.
Think I'll go build a fire now just in case.
Oh, and you don't see -1 with a -11 windchill very often. I used to have a chart, and I would have said that at -1 the windchill could only get to -8 or so :D
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I really liked the Womens Rugby Sevens during the Rio Olympics. The full Rugby was less interesting.
American Football strikes me as being a case like curling. The action is short between longer stretches of planning, and the rules and mechanics of the game aren't obvious, so if you don't know the game it's boring and confusing. Not a great combination. For a game I don't play myself, something like Rugby is a lot easier to get into: a crash course on the rules so I know what is going on, and constant action to keep me entertained. To get into football, it seems like you would need to know enough about the game to partake in couch side strategy craft.
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I finished watching an LP of Resident Evil 7 on youtube (by
). Odd is the only guy I've found other than Gopher who can do a Horror LP I enjoy watching (got into Odd for Until Dawn). Anyway, I can confirm that I am still a total sucker for horror stories (it's one of my 3 genres, along with fantasy and sci-fi), but I never would have been able to play this game myself.The biggest problem for me with scary type games are 'relentless pursuer' type enemies. Given that, as a child, most of my nightmares involved my being chased, I suppose its not super surprising that I don't have a lot of emotional capacity to deal with that kind of scenario in a video game. I also don't do well with being startled...so yeah.
Anyway, it had a really awesome story, though I think I still like Until Dawn a little bit more. Either way, those two are far and above my favourite horror games in a long time, though Deadspace 2 will always be a special one for me (in part because I can actually play that game).
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As far as American healthcare costs go, my understanding is that a large part of the problem is that hospitals are for profit, particularly coupled by an obligation to help anyone (to a point) regardless of their ability to pay. Combine that with things like more and more pharmaceutical monopolies, and things start getting really ridiculous. There is also the issue that it's often a lot cheaper in the long to pay continuously to keep someone healthy than it is to wait for them to deteriorate to the point where they need emergency care (at which point the hospital is obligated to help, no matter your ability to pay). That kind of cycle of medical care not only exacerbates medical issues, increasing overall medical costs, but it can interfere with your ability to get and hold down a job, meaning that now instead of paying income taxes, you're on social assistance. You can save an astounding amount of money just by keeping people out of hospital beds.
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Today...
in Off-Topic
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I think they work pretty much the same way as Canada. Everyone votes for their local representative, most of whom belong to an established party. There is a seat in parliament for each of these ridings, and whoever gets the most votes in the local election for that riding gets the seat. If a single party wins a majority of the seats then the leader of that party becomes the prime minister.
In the British system, I believe if no party wins an outright majority then the previous government automatically retains power temporarily (since it will take time to form the next government). I believe the party with the most votes is the one that must either form a coalition with another party or parties that can give them a combined majority, attempt to rule as a minority government, or cede leadership to another party (this has never been done. It is considered likely that such a move would trigger public demands for a new election).
I think they overshot the message to the conservatives, at least from my outsider, foreign policy focused position. Two problems. First, going into Brexit negotiations seems like a stunningly bad time for a potentially unstable government. If this government gets defeated halfway through the negotiations that's not likely to be a good thing for the UK. The other problem is that the only party that was ever going to be willing to work with the conservatives in a minority situation are the Democratic Unionist Party, who are further to the right and possibly crazy. They might have been aiming for a more liberal government, but it looks like what they've actually done is elect an even more conservative version, with the bonus possibility of another election during Brexit negotiations (if that happens, it seems very likely that they will not be able to make a complete exit treaty inside the deadline, forcing a harder Brexit and months of uncertainty while trade negotiations are finalised).
The Qatar situation seems like the kind of scenario that can lead to accidental wars. If Turkey is sending in Navy Ships (or if that offer is accepted? Not sure if it was an offer or something that has happened), I'd anticipate the Turkish Navy being used to escort commercial shipping through any blockade, and that's just asking for trouble if it goes on for too long. I also see that, as an ally of counties on both sides of the dispute, the United States has gone for the cunning strategy of playing both sides of the conflict at the same time :unsure:
It's an...interesting strategy to be sure, but it just might be crazy enough to work :-D