SteleTrovilo

joined 2 years ago
[–] SteleTrovilo 26 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Fediverse data is extremely public. Even if Lemm.ee isn't US hosted (I have no idea either way), it's certainly federated with instances in the US.

[–] SteleTrovilo 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Overwriting canon is fine, actually. TOS never had an issue with it, and PIC S1E10 gave Data a much better send-off by breaking canon from Nemesis and other Soong episodes. Gene Roddenberry's assistant officially decanonized TAS, but better writers still acknowledge it.

The idea of "canon" in regard to fictional worlds is dubious anyway, especially ones developed across multiple writers and generations. I'm fine with stuffing Pike's comment about women on the bridge into the dustbin of history, and not stressing about what decade the Eugenics Wars happened, and assuming PIC S3 doesn't exist.

[–] SteleTrovilo 6 points 2 months ago

Prodigy does start a bit weak, much like TNG and Lower Decks did. The writers find their groove pretty quickly though, and the rest of the series is great!

[–] SteleTrovilo 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

In the Lucas movies, droids are pretty explicitly portrayed as chattel slaves. They are auctioned off, have separate inferior quarters (Jabba's droid quarters are particularly notable), and are basically treated as beings without agency despite definitely having agency. There's even an explicit visual analogy - Anakin and Shmi have collars that control them and could kill them, and the droids also have (spaceships shaped like) collars that control them and can kill them.

[–] SteleTrovilo 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

SNW and Prodigy both fit the bill, in spite of your vague objection to the latter. Add Lower Decks and the better seasons of DIS (2, 4, 5) when the kids are a bit older.

[–] SteleTrovilo 2 points 2 months ago

The reason he asked about SNW is because SNW might actually not have the problems you're describing. You mentioned two tropes of modern Trek - the galactic danger and Section 31 - but SNW doesn't use those tropes. Did you misread his question?

As for the advancement of society (optimism vs aspiration) - TOS shows us a Federation that has moved beyond money and greed, sure. But war is still possible; Errand of Mercy established that there had recently been a war with the Klingons, decades before DIS and SNW portrayed it. The death penalty is still a possible punishment for Federation officers (maybe citizens too?) in The Menagerie. McCoy makes bigoted comments toward his ship's first officer regularly. If anything, SNW shows a more advanced society than TOS did. (I can't imagine SNW Pike expressing TOS Pike's opinion about women on the bridge!) Surely it makes sense that SNW's society should resemble TOS's more than TNG's.

But the bigger sense of advancement across the entire franchise is still here too. A key point in SNW S1E1 is that society has moved beyond partisan struggles and infighting - the ability to explore space and live in the stars is tied directly to this sense of social harmony which we still lack. This was also true in previous eras of Trek, and is exactly why warp travel is the criteria to be contacted by the Federation. SNW shows that these writers get it, and continue to get it.

[–] SteleTrovilo 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

He asked you about SNW, and you forgot to talk about SNW.

[–] SteleTrovilo 2 points 2 months ago

Of the previous Trek movies, we have:

A deliberately ponderous sci-fi epic

A submarine story fueled by revenge

A crew who risks everything to save one friend

A reunion special with a "save the whales" message front and center

An ego project with ambition

A political/spy thriller

A crossover for the fans

A zombie movie

A long episode of TNG

The second movie again but worse

A reboot with plot holes

A misunderstood action flick

A Fast & Furious movie

So how is this "not Trek" while all of those are Trek?

[–] SteleTrovilo 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

There are great episodes in the first two seasons. You have to search for them though. (Please don't miss Measure of a Man)

[–] SteleTrovilo 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It can't be explained directly, by itself. They're part of a bigger picture.

Straight men are attracted to women on the whole - legs, arms, waist, face, chest, back, it's all good. Whatever force it is that makes us attracted to women, it's not something that we chose or decided. We just do.

Since boobs are a sign of femininity, they're attractive to us on exactly that level! They fit into our idea of what women look like.

[–] SteleTrovilo 2 points 3 months ago

Holy shit she has two navels

[–] SteleTrovilo 10 points 5 months ago

I like Fossil-SCM, so https://chiselapp.com is good for that. But if you want to stick to Git, Forgejo is the best open-source offering (and Codeberg is the most prominent instance). If you want to tread far off of the beaten path, https://hub.darcs.net might meet your needs.

We'll all benefit once the forgefed project is done, and Forgejo/Gitea/Gitlab can all interact with each other.

11
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by SteleTrovilo to c/startrek@startrek.website
37
Exercism (exercism.org)
submitted 2 years ago by SteleTrovilo to c/programming
 

Does anyone here use Exercism? I've started using it to learn Elixir, and it seems to be good. I'm thinking about having my kids use it as well for Python and JS/TS.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone's used it for a long time, and if there's any advantages or disadvantages to it. Or if there are other, better code exercise sites I should check out.

 

I always thought that the idea of Enterprise was intriguing, and that the characters had a lot of potential. I don't think the show lived up to its own possibilities. But that's where books can make up the difference, maybe!

So, can anyone recommend some Enterprise novels that are worth reading?

(Especially if they have nothing to do with the "Temporal Cold War" and aren't simple jailbreak stories. The show already has those angles covered.)

 

I'm getting back into fighting games! And I don't want to wear out my gamepads or joycons, so can you recommend a good control stick?

A few criteria:

  • Wireless would be ideal
  • Compatible with PC mainly, but Switch and Playstation would be excellent too.
  • I'm mainly into BlazBlue and Injustice right now, not sure if that would affect my choices.
 

More info at https://paizo.com/starfinderplaytest

According to the document they have up there, SF2E will be 100% compatible with PF2E. That's a huge win for me - I like Starfinder's setting and vibe, and love PF2E's action economy.

 

I'll be giving this a read after work, but if anyone else wants to share their thoughts on the book, go for it!

56
submitted 2 years ago by SteleTrovilo to c/gaming
 

I've been thinking about a taxonomy of Roguelikes that should help us speak more clearly about this genre - or group of genres - that we love. I'd rather do this than just call things "roguelites", which basically doesn't mean anything. So here we go!

True Rogues: you're alone in a dangerous, randomly-generated dungeon, moving one turn at a time (except for speed-altering mechanics), with the possibility of permadeath always looming. Less objectively, these games tend to be more dangerous up-front, and require the player to master the mechanics in early levels - while still ramping up the threat for players who survive to later floors. Rogue, Brogue, Nethack, Jupiter Hell, and DCSS all fit here.

Bandlikes: inspired by Angband. Distinguished from True Rogues by the presence of one or more "towns" - places of safety that allow you to recover or improve outside of danger - with the attendant "town portal" abilities to get you there & back easily. This results, quite deliberately, in a longer "run". Also they tend to ease the player in - early floors have a lot of weak monsters designed to pad the player's early experience levels. I'd put Caves of Qud and Tangledeep (on hardcore mode) here.

Mystery Dungeons: think Shiren, or basically any console Roguelike. Take the mechanics of a True Rogue, but add some degree of meta-progression which can lead to an all-but-guaranteed win over time. Outside of official Chunsoft-made Mystery Dungeon games, I'd also put Nippon Ichi's ZHP and Guided Fate Paradox here.

Action Rogues: you still get random dungeons and permadeath, but now in real time! For whatever reason, these games tend to have "variety" meta-progression - you can unlock new features that don't objectively make things easier, but add more variation to future runs instead. Spelunky, Gungeon, 20XX, Streets of Rogue, and Necrodancer fit here.

Coffee-break Rogues: seemed to be all the rage a while back, but I haven't heard about them recently. These are one-floor dungeons with still enemies, where figuring out the ideal way to have your character approach each encounter is the key to success.

Cardlikes: focused on card-based battles, with dungeons generally (but not always) abstracted into icons for fast traversal. Slay the Spire is the most famous example, and I'm enjoying Dicey Dungeon here too.

Darkest Dungeon clones: basically Darkest Dungeon and the games which clearly want to be regarded as like DD. Vambrace: Cold Soul and Warsaw come to mind, since they're in my library.

Grinders: having only random dungeons, and no permadeath - or at least the ability to reload a save in case of defeat - I sometimes see these discussed in RL communities. Dragon Quest Monsters 1, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (on its main quest anyway) and Lufia: The Legend Returns are the best examples. I'd also put Rogue Legacy here since the grinding basically obliterates any concept of loss from death.

I think in some cases a game can fit multiple terms - Rogue Legacy is an Action Rogue and a Grinder, Diablo (on Hardcore mode) is a Bandlike and an Action Rogue, Tainted Grail is a DD clone and a Spirelike, and One Step From Eden is a Spirelike and an Action Rogue. Most Mystery Dungeon games have True Rogue modes or bonus dungeons outside of the main experience, too.

There's a few games that I can't quite classify yet - Into the Breach and Dwarf Fortress, mainly - but there's always room for improvement.

I think this could help us when presenting new games to the community. Any thoughts?

 

Spoilers for both episodes:

In the alternate future depicted in "A Quality of Mercy", Una has been in prison for the past seven years. In the main timeline, we now know that Una wins her trial and doesn't serve any prison time. How do we account for the fact that the same events led to two different outcomes?

This bugged me for hours yesterday. But after some thought and time, I think a solution exists!

We know, in the Prime timeline, that Pike literally risked his life to visit Neera (the Illyrian attorney). Her skills, and devotion to Illyrian rights, ultimately win the case. Therefore, in the alternate future, we must conclude that Pike did not take this same action.

The only difference between the two version of Pike, with regard to Una's trial anyway, is that the prime Pike had already seen the alternate future. He knew that if something drastic didn't happen, Una would lose and be imprisoned. This is why he sought an outspoken attorney from outside Starfleet.

It's interesting, then, to consider the fact that Una's victory was indirectly caused by Pike seeing the future - which was in turn caused by his first glimpse of the canon future back in Discovery. And if Una was fated to lose the trial without the interference of future knowledge, will this change have ramifications too? Is SNW now branched off of the original canon into its own timeline?

(Personally, I hope so! My wish is that SNW diverges from the Prime timeline, and finds a way for Pike to escape his fate without causing disaster. And that Spock & Chapel end up together.)

 

I first read the TTC in a Barnes & Noble hardback, and this was the translation they used. I know every translation has its own strengths and weaknesses, but this one is what ignited my interest in Taoism. Enjoy!

 

Reposting from https://mastodon.social/@zackwhittaker/109744489763168924

New, by @carlypage: LastPass parent company GoTo says intruders stole customer backups for several of its products, including Join.me and Remotely Anywhere. The hackers also obtained GoTo's encryption keys for scrambling customer data.

 

He is not a lawyer (and neither am I) but Doctorow knows a great deal about licenses and rights, and I definitely learned some interesting things from this.

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