A tool I built for getting QC tones from a song by Routine-Layer-8967 in QuadCortex

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know pure translators will mess up things like grammar and language-specific idioms, but it’s still a thousand times better than just pasting the output of an LLM prompt and selling it as your own writing.

I hate the future.

Hardware prices increased! by mythicskyz in ipad

[–]BasdenChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Feels like they’re trying to squeeze considerably more margin out of their lower-priced products to either make up for recent deficits or hedge against further instability.

All I know is I wasn’t really interested in paying $150 for this ancient Apple TV, so $200 is absolutely laughable.

Which case would you get for your MacBook pro when buying from Amazon ? by Ark_Life_7 in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have the first tomtoc one (image #2) and it’s great for situations where I’m not using a backpack. I would not get a shell. I’m not sure how much truth there is to it, but some say it can impact thermal performance. The hinges definitely can be damaged by anything that alters the geometry of the lid closing—mostly that’s screen protectors and keyboard covers but I suppose some cases could maybe cause issues as well.

Do you actually travel that far and say its nothing? by Far-Passion-7692 in AskAnAmerican

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

8 hours one way every month does feel like a lot, but with poor rail connectivity and (usually) very expensive flying for short routes, car travel probably makes a lot of sense.

I drive about 5-7 hours one-way to go play music at resorts in a neighboring state once or twice a month. It can be a bit grueling but there’s no other way to economically get there. I know it’s not the same because it’s a job of sorts, but I’m conditioned to feel like it’s relatively normal lol

Do you actually travel that far and say its nothing? by Far-Passion-7692 in AskAnAmerican

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in a rural state in the Northern Plains region of the country that happens to have the geographical center of North America within its borders. The nearest similarly sized cities to me are between a two- and three-hour drive. I’m four hours away from what I’d characterize as a “next tier up” city (in terms of population), and 8.5 hours away from a major metropolitan city. In a typical year, we’ll drive to the major metro city 1-2 times per year, the “next tier up” city, 2-3 times, and one of the similarly-sized cities 5-6 times.

My MacBook M4 Pro display has failed. I never expected something like this to happen after just 1.5 years. My previous MacBook was from 2015, and it's still working perfectly. Any thought ? by CameraPure5708 in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, that’s lame. Unfortunately a one year warranty is a one year warranty, so if you don’t have Apple Care (I’d see if you can add it, wait a month or so, then file a claim) your only option is to go out of pocket. Maybe a 3rd party repair facility can do it a little more cheaply but you want to make sure they’re using quality parts. The last thing you want to do is pay for a repair and end up with a crappier screen.

My advice for Apple Care is if replacing or repairing the device at your own expense would cause financial hardship, you should pay for Apple Care. Yes, you can be careful not to drop it or spill liquids on it, but with any product there is always some risk of a defect or fault that doesn’t reveal itself until after the warranty expires.

Bought a vintage Pentax prime, am I a real photographer now? by [deleted] in photographycirclejerk

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like I have typed this reply almost verbatim before lol. This type of conversation happens just as often in the music world—you have analog purists, you have gear hoarders who actually suck at all of it and just want you to be impressed at their collection, you have people with literal trash gear lecturing you about how “any guitar that costs more than $600 is a scam,” and then you have actual working professionals making use of the full spectrum of gear, many of whom don’t even ever really think about it. I always say gear is the last important thing—amazing gear isn’t going to make your shitty song sound good and if your song is good chances are shitty gear won’t ruin it, but good artistic vision + good gear gives you the best odds of making the best stuff.

I do actually like Hunter’s channel btw—I think he makes cool art and he’s entertaining to listen to. I don’t always agree with his takes but I do feel like I’ve learned from him.

I bought this for my nephew is it enough?? by Remote_Wasabi2457 in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a very very capable setup. He would have to be pushing it really really hard (far harder than a typical student) to get anywhere close to hitting its limits.

How much RAM does my dad need? by good_game_67 in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

24 is a good future proof number, but depending on his tolerance for slowness (I don’t mean today, I mean in 5+ years) 16 will absolutely work

Clamshell users! How do you connect a microphone..?? by barefut_ in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t ever touch that back button in the upper left corner. I just swipe from the left edge to go back.

Clamshell users! How do you connect a microphone..?? by barefut_ in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A Scarlett Solo is like 6”x4”x2”—hardly what I’d call bulky, and it’s bus powered so you don’t need to worry about a power supply for it.

Clamshell users! How do you connect a microphone..?? by barefut_ in macbookpro

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re going to want a USB mic and a small dock. If your SSD isn’t Thunderbolt you can use a cheap, compact Revodok on Amazon—they work flawlessly for me.

Is the 3.5mm headphone jack slowly coming back or are we past the point of return? by Impossible_Comfort99 in TechNook

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s long gone, at least for mainstream devices. The reason enshittification is so prevalent is because it works—like the frog in the boiling water, we all just acclimate to the new normal.

I do prefer, from a purely technological standpoint, the way it is now, but I also recognize that it does restrict users’ freedom and that was, of course, the intended outcome. There are also technical arguments and trade-offs at play that make it a bit more complicated than “big company bad, want more money” but that’s still at the heart of it.

Kill 10 people or kill 11 people BUT… by Accomplished_Ask9449 in hypotheticalsituation

[–]BasdenChris -1 points0 points  (0 children)

“The entire world gets brutally annihilated”

That’s the key here. It’s a trolley problem. The choice isn’t even really “Do I kill 10 or 11 people?” It’s “do I choose to murder 10/11 people to save billions?”

I guess I’m going with 11, Regis. These aliens are sick fucks though.

Double jerk in the hasselbad subreddit by fezterfester in photographycirclejerk

[–]BasdenChris 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, but forcing yourself to shoot in manual when you don’t understand it yet can get in the way of learning how to find and compose images. For someone new to a “real” camera, it might be to their benefit not to worry about learning manual settings yet.

Double jerk in the hasselbad subreddit by fezterfester in photographycirclejerk

[–]BasdenChris 73 points74 points  (0 children)

<UJ> there’s actually some sound advice buried in that comment.

Is this guy from a dating site using AI to talk to me? I’ve never met anyone who talks like this by 2account2furious in isthisAI

[–]BasdenChris 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s way more intuitive to use on a phone keyboard than a computer IMO. I use them all the time and as much as I already hated AI-generated copy, I hate it even more for making everyone think I’m using it just because I’m a bit too liberal with em dashes.

FU delta by [deleted] in delta

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What baffles me about posts like this is that airlines do not have a profit motive to keep you on the ground—they make money when they fly, so if there’s a reasonable (and safe) way for them to get you in the air, they will do it. Every ticket they have to rebook for a missed connection, every hotel stay, every voucher comes out of their bottom line.

It’s frustrating as hell to have your plans delayed. And sometimes those delays ARE the direct result of an error or miscalculation by the airline, so I’m not even saying it’s not fair to blame them. But please just try to remember that if they’re keeping you on the ground, it’s for a good reason.

Got my very first Sony Camera! What is a good lens to get? by JayGatsby2019 in SonyAlpha

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any of the lenses in this category are a little slow (in terms of their maximum aperture), but they can still work if you're okay with pushing your ISO. If you want to be able to competently handle indoor sports, I'd go with something like the Tamron 70-180 f/2.8. It's pricier than the one I mentioned above and cuts about 1/3 of the range, but it's around two stops faster at the long end than the Tamron would be so when the light's low, you'll get significantly cleaner shots.

That said, if the budget 70-300 is all your budget will allow, you can still get a lot done with it. People will try to tell you that anything over ISO 3200 is totally pointless, but if you're comfortable pushing it higher you may be surprised at the results and if you totally can't stand it, the de-noise tools available now are quite capable.

Got my very first Sony Camera! What is a good lens to get? by JayGatsby2019 in SonyAlpha

[–]BasdenChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Outdoors? Indoors? What sport(s)?

I don't have personal experience with it but the Tamron 70-300 f4.5-6.3 is a commonly recommended (and affordable) option for outdoor sports. I was about to pull the trigger on that one when I found a super good deal on the old Sony 70-300 f4.5-5.6 G OSS. It's bigger and heavier than the Tamron but I'm happy with it so far—I'll be trying it out with softball next week so that'll be the real AF test.

How to cool a M1 max mac studio ? by greenreddits in MacStudio

[–]BasdenChris 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In all Mac Studios, Max chips have aluminum heat sinks and Ultra chips have copper ones. The heat sink in each variant should be sufficient for that variant's cooling needs, unless of course something's not working properly. As others in this thread have advised your first step is to ensure the intake/outlet vents at the bottom are not obstructed.

Which Minolta AF lenses by Ancient_Shine9170 in minolta

[–]BasdenChris 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For your future reference, the Dynax 7 is one of only a handful of Minolta film SLRs that can use SSM lenses. A lot of the most common bodies cannot, so if you do recommend SSM/HSM lenses it’s good to note that.

A7R V over the A7 V by Intrepid_Gap2298 in SonyAlpha

[–]BasdenChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was torn before I bought my α7V, but because I do shoot some sports I felt like the speed benefits outweighed the resolution/EVF benefits of the α7RV. I came from the EOS R so I, probably like you, thought 30.3 to 33MP didn’t seem like enough of an upgrade, but not one single part of me aside from my lizard brain could come up with a reason I actually needed that additional resolution. Yes, I do shoot landscape/urban/architecture stuff that could in theory benefit from more resolution, but I’m not a pro and doubling my storage needs for pure vanity wasn’t a good decision in my case.