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JCPhoenix

@ JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

Posts
30
Comments
341
Joined
3 yr. ago

  • Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of November 2nd

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  • Mostly FFXIV. I decided to try a new class: Rogue/Ninja. Kinda impromptu, but I needed way to sneak by some baddies in the new-ish "Occult Crescent" field exploration zone. And Ninja has an ability to slowly stealth walk, going undetected by mobs.

    And Oh. My. God. I'd forgotten how awful it is to level a class from 0 to 50. I haven't done this since I did my initial class as Thaumaturge/Black Mage. Which would've been like 3-4yrs ago? I have other classes -- technically, Jobs -- to max level (Lvl 100), but those classes all start at higher levels. FFXIV is weird like that; classes from expacs 3.0 and up start at higher levels. Like Machinist at Lvl 30, Red Mage (which is my main) at Lvl 50, and one of the most recent classes, Pictomancer, at Lvl 80. I was also playing those classes/job while going through the game's Main Story Quest, so I didn't "notice" the grind. I was just playing the MSQ, the game, normally.

    As such, I've really not tried to quickly grind from Lvl 1 before. And the game doesn't help. No access to dungeons and trials until Lvl 15. And overall a very limited selection until Lvl 50. No AoE attacks until somewhere in mid-30s! Barely any attacks in the kit, until Lvl 30 (when the Ninja job opens up).

    For EXP, had to grind out leves, dungeons, FATEs, and random quests. I'm not against grinding, it's just a boring-ass grind.

    Anyway, I got to Lvl 50 yesterday, so now things should start get less boring. Lvl 50 on its own opens up like 30+ instances of various kinds. And there are tons more opportunities from there til Lvl 100. My goal is to get to 100 within the next two weeks. Could probably do it this week, but I don't wanna go that hard.

  • Republicans Claim They Have a Healthcare Plan. But They Won't Tell You What's in It

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  • I need to find me an accountant!

  • Republicans Claim They Have a Healthcare Plan. But They Won't Tell You What's in It

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  • Gee, where I have heard that one before?

  • how's your week going, Beehaw

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  • So I've been a fed for nearly a year. It hybrid when I started, 2 days a week, til February of this year. Sigh.

    My last job went full remote in April 2023. And was hybrid since Spring 2021. And it was pretty liberal hybrid, like sometimes I'd show up one day a week or every two weeks.

    But I heard from friends still at that job that they recently got ordered to RTO. At least those still in the area where HQ was + the CEO. Though I think the staff is getting caught in a fight between the board and the CEO. Staff just happens to be collateral damage. Either way, seems like opportunities are fading.

    Honestly, I'd even take one day of WFH per week.

  • how's your week going, Beehaw

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  • Haven't commented here in awhile. Week is going OK so far. Took Monday (and last Friday) off for mental health days. Was just kinda in a "blah" mood. Think it's "emotional contagion" from listening to friends' problems and such. Glad to do it, to be there for them, but every once in awhile, it makes me think about stuff and my own life.

    But otherwise, I'm back to it. On a plus side, I get to work from home today (Thursday)! My apt complex is closing the streets to do repaving. Rather than messing around with temporarily parking my car elsewhere, I asked my supervisor and he's like "Yup, that's cool." I work for the US govt, and regular telework is verboten. But here and there? It's acceptable. Besides, it's only the first time since February that I've teleworked due to a personal situation.

  • Game Informer Is Back

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  • EGM will always be my favorite vide game magazine. I like Game Informer, had a subscription back in the day, even had a subscription last year before they shut down. But GI is no EGM. Wish they'd come back, too.

  • how's your week going, Beehaw

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  • I was talking to my dad today. He's close to retirement and he was kinda reminiscing about his early days with his employer, the US fed govt, especially with all the shit lately.

    He told me the story again of how he got his first federal position. He went to some job fair in like 1990 after he finally finished his degree, and the guy manning the booth offered him a job on the spot. And the rest is history.

    I'm also a federal employee. It took me 15+ yrs of applying for numerous federal positions, having to do stupid aptitude tests online, or even in person -- I once flew across the country to literally sit for an ACT/SAT-type aptitude test, on my own dime -- all to get two interviews over that whole time period. It was only in 2023 that I finally got an offer, which I started like 5mo ago.

    Offer on the spot at a job fair? That's unheard of these days. I don't even see the point of going to job fairs anymore, since all they do is say, "just apply online!" The few I've been to in the past weren't even accepting resumes in person or doing any on-the-spot interviews. Then what's the point of this?

    And having sat on the "other side" of the table, helping conduct interviews, it's all shit. Not the candidates (well...sometimes), but the process. If the whole rigmarole is to help find and select better candidates, then it's not working. I'd rather pick a couple candidates, hire them on probation for 90 days, and evaluate them that way. Then let go of the less-performing one. Or both if neither are worth it. We'd be able to really evaluate them, while at least they'd maybe learn something and get paid.

  • Politics @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, clears way for app to shut down in U.S. as soon as Sunday

    www.cbsnews.com /news/supreme-court-tiktok-ban-ruling/

  • First Look at Switch 2

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  • Damn that's a game I haven't thought of in a long time. And I forgot that the SNES had a mouse! at all I even remember that hard plastic mouse pad it came with.

  • TikTok Users Gleefully Embrace Even More Chinese App To Spite US TikTok Ban

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  • Not that I care about TikTok one way or another, but one of the best arguments I've seen against banning it dealt with supposed protection of Americans' data. And I'm pretty sure that's the approach that lawmakers have taken with this; it's not that Chinese propaganda is bad, it's that China shouldn't have this much private info on Americans. I believe that's the primary angle they've taken to get around First Amendment concerns.

    Anyway, the argument is, "Oh, but it's OK for US tech companies to harvest data? That's it's OK that we have weak privacy and data protection laws? As long as US companies are doing it, then it's not a problem?" Because, remember the laws says that the company becomes "unavailable" in the US if not sold to an American company. Presumably, if TikTok were sold to a US company, then the app could continue with no issue, tracking and collecting tons of data on Americans to be packaged and sold to the highest bidders.

    I will admit, I was somewhat more pro-ban before hearing that argument. But now I'm more neutral. I don't use it, so I'm not/shouldn't be affected. But the government trying to hide behind data privacy and protection to ban TikTok does feel rather empty.

  • Hollywood stars and geeks unite to billionaire-proof social media

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  • It'd be interesting if everyone "started" in the same place. For example, Mastodon.social. But then eventually, like maybe after 90 days, one was forced to choose a "home" instance to migrate to. Could be through a list of servers presented, or maybe a user has found one through friends, so they just type in the server and it kicks off a migration process. I'm almost thinking like an MMO starting area.

    During that 90 days, the user has to (or should) learn about federation, why decentralization is important for privacy and security, what defederation means and blocking options, how and why instances are a thing, how to migrate an account, etc. Maybe even some info on how and why one could stand up their own instance.

    And this doesn't have to like a classroom/book setting. It doesn't have to be "read this documentation." Maybe some 1min video clips, brief tooltips, little reminders to read a brief paragraph of two on some Mastodon topic. Gamify it; let people collect badges and achievements.

    During all this, users have full access to everything Mastodon users can do. They can interact with anyone on the entry server, plus any server that's federated with it. Or maybe they're an already experienced user and want to go straight to another instance; they can either skip all this and migrate or start straight at another instance.

    Though I wonder if that's still too much friction.

  • Hollywood stars and geeks unite to billionaire-proof social media

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  • Because Mastodon and the Fediverse is confusing, especially at first. I'm a techy person. I work in IT. But when I started to looking at the Fediverse back in 2023, it was confusing. Where do I go to sign-up? There are different services on the Fediverse? Which do I get access to? Do I need an account for each service? How do I know that this instance for this service (Pixelfed, Lemmy, Masto, etc.) is a decent one? What happens if my friends/people I follow are on a different server? Will we be able to interact? What does it even mean to federate/defederate?

    These are all the questions I asked as I was looking to all this. And it wasn't a quick 15min look. No, I spent a few hours looking into it.

    But the average person isn't going to ask all this and research this. They just want a place to follow famous people, post about their life, and post pictures of their food and pets. When these people (myself included) signed up for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, etc, they just went to the appropriate site and signed-up.

    It's not nearly as simple for Mastodon. Sure, Mastodon.social acts as the flagship and "gateway," but there are still the other questions that probably need some answers. Otherwise, a user may have a bad experience ("Oh, my friends aren't on this Mastodon server thing? And we're not federated? I gotta make a new account there? Ugh..."). Twitter and even Bluesky don't require those questions. Everyone is on the same instance, all the time.

    The reality is that most don't really care for options and choice. Or even security and privacy. They want ease of accessibility. Mastodon is likely a better product (in most regards; I have and use both Mastodon and Bluesky, daily; Bluesky does a few things better), but the options Mastodon provides, especially at the start, are really more roadblocks or offramps than anything.

  • how's your week going, Beehaw

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  • Oof, sorry to hear that. Lots of illnesses going around this time of year, which is expected, but Strep can't be particularly fun. Nor getting your tonsils out. When I got back from visiting my family for Xmas, I definitely picked up a little something. Had a scratchy throat, minor body aches, and a low fever. But it was gone within a couple days.

    Otherwise, pretty chill this week so far. Unplanned WFH on Monday and Tuesday due to snowstorm. Then today (Thurs) is a paid "holiday" for Pres. Carter's funeral, and I took Friday off to make a 4-day weekend. So yesterday (Weds) was the only day I went into the office. I could've WFH again today, but thought I should make an appearance. Been a week since I was last in office, due to holidays, and next week I'm full WFH for online training. It was good to see people, anyway.

    Thinking about visiting NYC for a day or overnight trip this weekend. I'd just take Amtrak up. I've been all over the States, but somehow never to NYC. So why not do something other than game and sleep for 4 days? Only thing I'm worried about is another potential snowstorm headed to the region. I don't want to get stuck in NYC if trains get cancelled for weather. But right now, the plan is to go. Just need to, you know, actually buy the train tickets and perhaps book a hotel room. The important things.

  • Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of January 5th

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  • I do like politics, so perhaps it is right up my alley! I know it's fairly different from FP1, but we'll see.

  • Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of January 5th

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  • Finishing up Frostpunk. I started last year, then put it down basically for a year. Anyway, I recently finished 2 of 3 DLC campaigns. Working on the last one right now. Easily the hardest colony manager I've played, but it's so good. Can't wait to start Frostpunk 2 after this.

    With friends, playing Barotrauma. We're doing our annual playthrough/attempt to get the to the end. Which we done once. There's 5 of us regularly playing (a 6th sometimes joins), which for us, seems to be the minimum we need. Think we just entered The Great Sea, which is the 4th of 5 biomes. Just upgraded to a Tier 3 sub.

  • Job losses at Europe’s car parts suppliers soar as vehicle market slows

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  • Wonder when we'll see US-style tariffs in Europe on Chinese vehicles, particularly EVs. In the name of protecting European jobs and auto marketshare. Which would be unfortunate, given the need to move to EVs to mitigate climate change. As an American, I would've loved to have a $20k Chinese EV. I don't think there are ICE vehicles in the US that cheap these days.

    But I also get the jobs issue, too. I think much of the West is in the situation we're in because of offshoring of jobs and competition from cheaper labor overseas. Loss of jobs, income, ability to support family, etc.

    Curious to see how this plays out.

  • Happy New Year Beeple!

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  • Hope everyone's 2025 plans come to fruition!

  • Is BitTorrent still relevant in the Modern Era?

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  • When I want to pirate, torrenting is my go to. I don't do it very often, so I'm not really up-to-date on more modern methods. For some movies, I know there are those websites like 123movies or whatever. And I've used those. But Idek what additional methods there are anymore.

    That said, I've tried torrenting over I2P, but it's just slow. Not necessarily super slow, but obviously slower than doing it over the clearweb with a commercial VPN. Additionally it seems like there's less available content with torrenting over I2P. At least in the little experience I've had with it.

  • Blacksky Is Nothing Like Black Twitter—and It Doesn’t Need to Be

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  • Ah fair point. Yeah, I rarely look at political content on YouTube, Instagram, and even Bluesky. Mainly because I use my real name on these platforms.

    I reserve that for reddit, Lemmy, Tildes, and Mastodon, where I use screennames. And Mastodon doesn't have an algorithm.

    On Twitter, I did engage in political content, even with my real name, but I largely stopped using Twitter daily years ago. I went from tweeting regularly, to only lurking, and just maybe once or twice a week at that. By the end, I was checking maybe once a month. The Twitter algorithm probably didn't have enough info on me, given my weak activity levels.

  • Blacksky Is Nothing Like Black Twitter—and It Doesn’t Need to Be

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  • Same. And I am a racial minority (though not black, so that may color things...excuse the unintentional pun). That said, on Mastodon, I mainly interact with the people on my instance. And it's small. There's probably only a core group of like 50 active individuals, and I'm one of them. So there I'm not surprised I don't see racism.

    Interestingly, I have the same experience on even the proprietary social media sites. I was on Twitter from 2009 to 2023. I can't say I was ever served up far-right content by the algorithms. I'm still on YouTube; same experience. Same on Instagram. Same on Bluesky.

    I'm not trying to discount other people's experiences, and I've seen the horrible tweets referenced in news articles and reddit comments and such. So I know it exists, but why am I not being served this content, while so many others apparently are? I mean, I'm OK with not getting far right wing content, lol. Leave me out of it! Makes my online life easier and more enjoyable. But it's just odd.

  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Royals, city of KC studying new downtown stadium site. Mayor Lucas wants to avoid vote

    www.kansascity.com /sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mcdowell/article291020570.html
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Kansas City’s cool Friday breaks 97-year-old record low temperature

    www.kctv5.com /2024/08/09/kansas-citys-cool-friday-breaks-97-year-old-record-low-temperature/
  • Sports @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Team USA wins 5th straight men's basketball gold

    www.espn.com /olympics/story/_/id/40811929/team-usa-wins-fifth-straight-men-basketball-gold-medal
  • Politics @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org
    Video

    JD Vance first VP pick since 1980 to have net-negative rating after announcement

    www.cnn.com /2024/07/23/politics/video/jd-vance-data-ebof-digvid-enten
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Kansas plan to get Chiefs, Royals relies on billions in bonds with ‘high degree of risk’

    www.kansascity.com /news/politics-government/article288422965.html
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Missouri Supreme Court orders new election on KCPD funding, ruling voters were misled

    www.kansascity.com /news/state/missouri/article288157670.html
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Missouri AG threatens legal action after KC Mayor Lucas makes pro-immigration comment

    www.kansascity.com /news/politics-government/article287836080.html
  • Missouri | The Show-Me State @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Missouri House votes to make it harder for residents to amend the constitution

    www.kbia.org /missouri-news/2024-04-06/missouri-house-votes-to-make-it-harder-for-residents-to-amend-the-constitution
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Jackson County voters reject stadium sales tax that would fund new Royals ballpark

    www.kcur.org /politics-elections-and-government/2024-04-02/royals-chiefs-stadium-sales-tax-question-1-results-jackson-county-kansas-city-election
  • World News @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    In a Setback for Beijing, Taiwan Elects Lai Ching-te as President

    www.nytimes.com /2024/01/13/world/asia/taiwan-election-china-us.html
  • Politics @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    In a Setback for Beijing, Taiwan Elects Lai Ching-te as President

    www.nytimes.com /2024/01/13/world/asia/taiwan-election-china-us.html
  • Environment @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Their land is sinking. But Tulare Lake farm barons defy calls to cut groundwater pumping

    www.latimes.com /environment/story/2023-12-27/tulare-lake-land-barons-defy-calls-to-cut-groundwater-pumping
  • Politics @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Their land is sinking. But Tulare Lake farm barons defy calls to cut groundwater pumping

    www.latimes.com /environment/story/2023-12-27/tulare-lake-land-barons-defy-calls-to-cut-groundwater-pumping
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Upscale developer loses bid to have Blue Springs property rezoned for apartments

    www.yahoo.com /news/upscale-developer-loses-bid-blue-043355133.html
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Missouri court denies DeValkenaere’s appeal bond motion

    fox4kc.com /news/missouri-court-denies-devalkenaeres-appeal-bond-motion/
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Road closures planned for this weekend’s 2023 Kansas City Marathon

    fox4kc.com /news/road-closures-planned-for-this-weekends-2023-kansas-city-marathon/
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Missouri man and a 1,200-pound gourd attempt world record for longest journey by pumpkin boat

    www.kcur.org /arts-life/2023-10-09/kansas-city-man-and-1-200-pound-gourd-attempt-world-record-for-longest-journey-by-pumpkin-boat
  • Kansas City @midwest.social
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Country Club Plaza to be purchased by Dallas company with ties to Hunt family

    www.kansascity.com /news/business/article280108169.html
  • Politics @beehaw.org
    JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

    Ex-Leader of Proud Boys Sentenced to 22 Years in Jan. 6 Sedition Case

    www.nytimes.com /2023/09/05/us/politics/enrique-tarrio-proud-boys-sentenced.html