Viewing profile — backpackviolet

I read Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky recently and I think it takes more-or-less takes direct inspiration from this story (and the poem) with modern aesthetics. I liked it, it…

It depends on the game (which is one way in which it isn't ready yet, granted), but I've been amazed at how many games I can play without any issues. Maybe I'm just lucky that my t…

It’s the Poor Man’s MAD (mutually assured destruction). They want this conflict to be as painful as possible so that pressure is applied to the aggressors to stop. The US can’t def…

But what the republican party has, is a lot of isolationist voters who cannot be moved by appeals to markets or international trade. They don’t care about that stuff. Sure, the rep…

It's something of an open question whether MAGA will follow him or not. I would bet against it, for the same reason few of them followed Jeb after George. I would bet on some in-fi…

> the Republican Party elites are rich dudes who don't want to screw ourselves back to the stone age. They said that about Trump I. The Republican Party elites have power, but they…

They won't. This is the same line of people that voted for Reagan and Bush II. I used to be one, most of my family still is. Whatever Democrat gets elected (if we have reasonable e…

I think it's inversely correlated with power, influence and reach. HN and Reddit don't have guns, can't throw you in prison, and there are lots of social medias to choose from, so …

I’m still surprised by what AI can do. It’s amazing. … but I still have to double check when it’s important that I get the right answer, I still have to review the code it writes, …

> "AI is getting better rapidly" … is it? I hear people saying that. I see “improvement”: the art generally has the right number of fingers more often, the text looks like text, th…

No, obviously not. Smartphones are a mixed blessing, I'm not sure we're better off with the little distraction machines, but both them and electric cars were things that could plau…

In addition to the fantastic trains the other commenters mentioned, you could also take a bus for $20 to any major hub or hotel.

> Right now you probably hold one or the other. No, right now you probably have no opinion on the subject. And depending on context are perfectly willing to entertain either or nei…

> Like, people must remember which candidates they voted for in the past, right? I have noticed that in myself, but I have observed in some people it takes the form of “I didn’t sh…

Right, because the real problem with the world is that there aren’t enough humans. /s

You have to be some kind of madman to make a game in straight C. The controls being what they are is kind of fitting. I mean, it might be a prank, but like QWOP and Getting Over It…

> The quiz thing is mostly exhaustion at the idea of people who don't bother to learn anything having a say. I hear you, I feel that frustration as well. Myself, I've come the long…

> I would add that any law passed must have a relatively short sunset clause. This forces us to reconsider laws periodically to make sure they're still relevant. I like this idea i…

No, that’s the magic of the bulletproof fabric. Imagine the energy of the bullet is distributed across the entire garment.

What would it be like for civilization to have evolved on a world with a moon (or other large natural satellite) in geosynchronous orbit. There’s just this … thing, in the sky, hov…

I would guess there is some kind of normal distribution, it’s not like people dies or were fine, there were lots somewhere inbetween that took healthcare to save. The safety measur…

It’s for fun. It takes playing pieces most people have available, rules many are familar with, and makes a new game with just a few more rules. For fun.

No, there is a rule in there that pieces causing Check forfeit further moves.

Uses the D4 motif that this variant is based on? If anything, why have a coin flip to resolve the tie? Just re-roll the D4 and stay in-universe

> Like, rolling a 4 on the first move wins the game No, that and your checkmate concerns are almost certainly why they came up with this rule: “The rest of a piece's moves are forf…