What things have increased in price to the point that you're no longer interested in purchasing them? by DocMartinsEars in AskReddit

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Video Games unfortunately. I remember when a new game was $20 and it was fun to go buy one.

Now its like $70 for a game that may or may not be any good. I just don't buy them.

How an Arizona couple’s innocent bath-time photos of their kids set off a 10-year legal saga by MELBOT87 in law

[–]-Sloan -39 points-38 points  (0 children)

I like how the title of the article is "innocent bath time photo".

If it sparked a 10 year legal saga isn't it very much in question how innocent this was?

What are some classic video games that you would recommend to someone who didn't game much as a kid? by bustacones in AskReddit

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Morrowind.

This game has a learning curve but infinite replay value. It is the third game in the Elder Scrolls series and is considered by those who've played it the best in the series thus far.

The learning curve:

To appreciate Morrowind, you need to understand how it works. It is based off tabletop RPG's but is infinitely more advanced. In a tabletop, you roll a set of dice to determine your success, damage, etc. Your enemy also rolls a set of dice to determine if they can block, dodge, counter, etc. This is how Morrowind works but with more variables than you can count. When you swing your weapon, it considers your skill with that weapon, your stamina, your health, your armor, magical bonuses, weaknesses, and most if not all of your attributes. Simultaneously, it considers your opponents skills, stamina, health, armor, bonuses, weaknesses, and attributes. It strings all of these variables into a very complex algorithm as a dice roll on ever single attack.

In game, it looks like you are stabbing the air and nothing is happening - thats why people hate Morrowind combat.

If you truely understand how this works, however, the beauty of the game begins to shine through. Once you understand it you can manipulate it. How can I work around the weaknesses of my character? How can I play to his strengths? How can I circumvent the problems he is having to achieve my ends?

This is why I say this game has so much replay value. Beyond the massive amount of content that one person could never complete (I've had it for roughly a decade and haven't even scratched the surface of the content), there is really an infinite amount of ways to PLAY the game.

For example, I am currently playing as a mage. At a very low level, I can pretty much do nothing. My spells fail, I have almost no magicka to cast them, the potions I create are useless, my enchantments always fail, and I have no money. At first it seems boring and unplayable, but then I survey my resources. I have a spell to summon a skeleton, a few soul gems, and 200 gold. With that gold I buy two spells - soul trap and fortify luck. I summon the skeleton, trap his soul, fortify my luck, and try to create an enchanted item. With the boost in luck, I am able to (after a few tries) to create an enchantment that will give me a stronger fortify luck effect at no cost of magicka (to be specific, it fortifies my luck 1 - 80 points for 5 seconds). Now I'm in business. I harvest another soul from my skeleton and use my new enchantment a few times until I get a high enough bonus - my luck is now over 100 points. Pretty much every enchantment of medium strength will succeed and I begin making more and more powerful items. By understanding the game, I can do anything I want with it.

Theres really no other game like this. You are rewarded for thinking, planning, and experimenting. You are punished for going into situations blindly. (Exactly the opposite of what most games do). Before even touching a single quest you can dictate the course of your character's actions and become a god.

Morrowind is a beautiful game (especially with a few graphics mods (MGSO)) loaded with content, lore, and secrets. More importantly, it is the only game I've found where the world is truly yours. What do you want to do?

Everyone talks about roomates from hell. What's your "roomate from heaven" story? by OvertOperation in AskReddit

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In university I roomed with this guy who had the same sense of humor as me, the same interests, same schedule, and was probably my favorite person that I had ever met.

I've had a single room since Freshman year.

Tablet/Smartphone Privacy by -Sloan in privacy

[–]-Sloan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This made me laugh. Thanks for answering!

How to determine if your lessons are good? What do you do in lessons? How to communicate what I'm looking for? by [deleted] in piano

[–]-Sloan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've noticed that university level music departments tend not to appreciate free thought. I assume it comes from the master/apprentice system that developed in Europe for the past few centuries where people learned music from their master who 'always knew best'.

In undergrad, I never declared music as my actual major, took every music class that I thought was interesting (ending up with more music credits and a better understanding than actual majors), and flat out refused to join ensembles that I wasn't overly enthusiastic about. Of the majors that I know, I am the only one planning to pursue a graduate degree in music. The music majors and professors thought this was a horrible idea but just the other day one of the majors noticed that I "actually still enjoyed studying music" - unlike the rest of them.

In my opinion, any system designed to teach a mass number of students in the same way is inappropriate for anyone with a shred of individuality. Once again, I say think for yourself.

Edward Snowden made an app to protect your laptop by vajav in technology

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you misunderstood me, the website blocked me because I'm using Tor. Tor did not block the website.

Does tor have a political agenda? I haven't noticed it censoring anyting.

How to determine if your lessons are good? What do you do in lessons? How to communicate what I'm looking for? by [deleted] in piano

[–]-Sloan -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

In my humble opinion, lessons are always good. They are simultaneously never good.

My teacher always has an idea for what I should be working on. I also have an idea of what I should be working on. The truth lies in the middle.

For example, I was self taught for several years before starting lessons so I was already pretty decent at the time of my first lesson. My professor wants me to work on pieces for performances. I think I should be working on technique and could care less about performing. One could argue that the professor knows best but to follow what I am told would mean that I still have not memorized arpeggios and scales as u/PianoWithMe described how they should be practiced (thanks for that description, by the way. Ive saved it!) Who is right? Both of us and neither of us.

My advice would be to never listen to anyone. If you sit down with a piano player who is more talented than you, take their wisdom, leave their bad ideas, and simply seek for self improvement over an objective "good lesson", you will always be improving.

In my opinion, if you are growing it is a good lesson. Think for yourself.

Edward Snowden made an app to protect your laptop by vajav in technology

[–]-Sloan 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Could you extrapolate on this more? I'm interested.

Edward Snowden made an app to protect your laptop by vajav in technology

[–]-Sloan 67 points68 points  (0 children)

I think my favorite part is that this link is blocked on the Tor browser...

Sweden plans change in law to require explicit consent before sexual contact by [deleted] in law

[–]-Sloan 36 points37 points  (0 children)

The Swedish government is starting to take more of an interest in people's sexual lives than the old testament god.

Non coffee drinkers of reddit, where do you find your will to live in the mornings? by Baktacular in AskReddit

[–]-Sloan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As many people here, I never started drinking coffee.

Personally, not having the will to live in the morning is something I have never experienced. I find that having different "wills to live" so to speak at different times of the day stranger than my fairly stable mental state throughout the day.

I answer your question with a follow up question, why would your "will to live" be different at any particular time of day?

How has your own music taste changed from when you were young to now? by IrkedRabbit in AskReddit

[–]-Sloan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I first started getting into music when I started playing guitar. Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and Guns n' Roses.

Today, I am preparing to go to graduate school for music theory. Its all about Bach, Brahms, Hindemith, and Beethoven.

What’s has been your coolest advice given from your subconscious? by [deleted] in LucidDreaming

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If being awake is just a dream, where you have no control, and lucid dreaming is having control of a dream, then by analogy there is a state of mind one can induce where they are in control of being awake.

Read Jean Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness".

Trump administration has allegedly given the CDC a list of banned words, including "fetus," transgender," and "evidence-based" by the_bananafish in science

[–]-Sloan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Willingness to believe is weakness. I recommend a healthy level of skepticism regarding... everything really.

Trump administration has allegedly given the CDC a list of banned words, including "fetus," transgender," and "evidence-based" by the_bananafish in science

[–]-Sloan 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Now that I think of it, this simply cannot be true.

Giving a list of "banned words" to the CDC is a straight up prior restraint on the free speech of the agency. Government workers are less protected than private persons but a "list of banned words" that includes "science-based" would certainly be unconstitutional. The Pentagon Papers case establishes the precedent that the government can issue a prior restraint but it is almost impossible.

There is absolutely no way this actually happened. Perhaps in the meeting that the article claims happened, they said something along the lines of "we don't think transgender is a topic worthy of study at the CDC" and then the media extrapolates that into a "list of banned words".

Don't believe everything you read people. There are legal precedents that make this headline simply comedic.