• 3 Posts
  • 25 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
cake
Cake day: June 13th, 2023

help-circle
rss




  • I’m running an Intel Meteor Lake laptop with Linux and it’s reasonably well supported with pretty fresh kernels (6.7 and later). Compared to an AMD desktop that I use, both have had occasional minor defects. The Intel systems have also done a lot to close the performance and perf-per-watt, even under Linux.

    I think the graphics performance and compatibility is a bit better on AMD. That would be the only reason I’ve experienced to lean that direction. But I think both are very usable, so other factors like price, availability, recency, are probably larger factors to focus on.




  • Pre-orders that include a Graphics Module with an eligible AMD Radeon™ GPU will receive a free download code for one of the biggest games of the year: Starfield™ Premium Edition. Quantities are limited*, and we’ll be sending out the code prior to the game’s early access launch.

    So… I’ve made a $100 deposit for the pre-order… which is in a batch scheduled for Q4 delivery… but Starfield releases before that. I wonder if they’ll send out the Starfield codes before they ship laptops, even though the pre-order deposit is fully refundable?


  • I like it, but, there are upsides and downsides.

    I usually play with a team that has some remote members, so Foundry is the mechanism by which I create shared visuals and battlemaps. I don’t go as far as to run the whole game with Foundry – PCs have their character sheets, they make their rolls themselves, and I still track most elements of the game myself (except initiative-order and NPC/monster HP).

    Even with just this light usage, there are downsides – for example, my prep as a DM takes longer because I have to create or adapt a map/visual for everything, as opposed to just describing it. I’m preparing an adventure right now that I might be done with if I didn’t use Foundry; it’s all documented, but not visualized.

    Many (for example, the linked article) add more capabilities to Foundry until it runs and automates more and more of the game. I think I’m concerned about creating a slippery slope with that, to the point where we’re playing a multiplayer video game rather than an TTRPG, and the flexibility of the game is lost. But!, I add a thing here or there, trying to make my players’ experience better, and so far it’s all been great.



  • Ultimately this is the fault of the poor democratic system implemented in the US. A truly progressive option can’t be formed because it would split the support of the Democratic Party, leaving the Republicans to take everything in the first-past-the-post voting system. In the absence of electoral reform, or a progressive takeover within the Democrats, or maybe a gigantic scandal that shakes up ether party creating new opportunities… the best option for a progressive voters seems to be to support these idiots rather than letting those idiots in. And the best option for the Democrats as a party that wants power is to cater to the middle and be inoffensive, driving this entire thing into a loop where little of value gets done.






  • I dunno; ChatGPT can create a pretty reasonable list of exceptions in about a minute, and that’s 21st century technology. 🤣

    I’m not really arguing that it’s this simple. What I’m suggesting is that our 21st century laws are complicated, nuanced, and of course, imperfect. Therefore 24th century law shouldn’t be simple and dumb. The exceptions to the prime directive exist whether society preconceives them or not – or else I missed the seasons where Kirk and Picard were thrown in prison.

    ChatGPT Prompt: Considering the Prime Directive in the Star Trek universe, create a list of exceptional situations where it is morally preferable to interfere in the natural development of another species. Write it in a legal format.

    Response:

    PREAMBLE: In light of the Prime Directive of the United Federation of Planets’ Starfleet, also known as Starfleet General Order 1, that forbids interference with the internal development of pre-warp civilizations, the following exceptions are hereby proposed. These exceptions are founded on moral arguments and an overarching belief in the sanctity of sentient life and the preservation of universal stability.

    SECTION 1: IMMINENT EXTINCTION

    1.1. In the event a civilization, pre-warp or otherwise, faces imminent extinction due to a natural disaster such as an asteroid impact, supernova, planetary tectonic instability, or catastrophic climate change, intervention may be morally justified to prevent the total eradication of that species.

    1.2. This exception will apply only if the intervention does not fundamentally alter the civilization’s cultural or societal development, and is limited to the bare minimum necessary to prevent extinction.

    SECTION 2: EPIDEMIC/PANDEMIC SITUATIONS

    2.1. If a civilization is facing a severe epidemic or pandemic situation, especially one that poses a threat to the survival of the entire species, intervention may be considered permissible to provide medical assistance, and introduce technologies or strategies for containment and eradication of the disease.

    2.2. This exception must be applied cautiously, ensuring that the intervention does not lead to significant cultural, societal or technological changes beyond the necessary medical intervention.

    SECTION 3: SELF-DESTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY

    3.1. In the event a civilization develops a technology that is directly causing irreversible harm to its people or its planet’s sustainability without the civilization’s understanding of the consequences, intervention may be ethically acceptable to prevent self-destruction.

    3.2. This exception should be applied only when the civilization shows no signs of independently correcting its course, and intervention should aim to minimise the impact on societal development.

    SECTION 4: THIRD PARTY INTERFERENCE

    4.1. If it is discovered that another warp-capable civilization is intervening or has intervened in a way that disrupts the natural development of a pre-warp civilization, interference may be morally justifiable to undo or mitigate the effects of such interference.

    4.2. The scope of intervention should be limited to restoring the status quo prior to the third party interference, while minimizing any additional influence on the civilization’s development.

    SECTION 5: ENSLAVEMENT

    5.1. If a pre-warp civilization is under the enslavement or subjugation of a warp-capable civilization, or under the threat of such subjugation, intervention may be morally acceptable to liberate the enslaved civilization and prevent future enslavement.

    5.2. This exception will apply only if non-intervention would lead to substantial harm or extinction of the civilization, and efforts should be made to minimize cultural and societal disruption.

    CLOSING REMARKS: It must be noted that these exceptions are not to be used as justifications for arbitrary interference. Any decision to intervene should be a last resort, guided by a comprehensive understanding of the possible consequences and a commitment to minimize disruption. In all cases, the Prime Directive’s spirit of non-interference and respect for the self-determination and autonomy of other species should prevail.


  • One of the concerns I have with the Prime Directive is that it is intended to avoid a “slippery slope” problem, and so it is a very black-and-white rule. Starfleet can’t protect a developing civilization from a catastrophic planet-ending disaster… and the core reason is that “interference” can be a bad thing, so we won’t ever do it.

    There are clearly situations where interference in another civilization would be immoral. There are also clearly situations where it would be moral. We can’t possibly figure out those situations and enshrine them into law? We do better today! Homicide is illegal, but there are exceptions like self-defense, and there are mitigating circumstances like causing an accidental death.

    The Prime Directive should be much more complex.

    Might not make for great TV, though.





  • Thanks for the kind words!

    Nix is a learning curve. My recommendation for starting out would be using the tool “home-manager”, by which you can declaratively install tools and configure your local user settings (eg. .ssh/config, .git/config). It’s a good way to dip your toes without doing a full system replacement.

    It lead me to rebuilding my desktop, laptop, and home server with NixOS eventually, so I guess it appealed to me at least. 😯 But it’s probably not for everyone.