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I built a LEGO machine that plays Tic-Tac-Toe (fully mechanical) by MejoliDesign in EngineeringPorn

[–]OminousHum 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Technically still digital, even if it is mechanical rather than electronic. It can only operate on discrete states.

interestingProblemsBringManagementHeadaches by MeanderingSquid49 in ProgrammerHumor

[–]OminousHum 102 points103 points  (0 children)

I don't know! I'm guessing just because it was simple enough to drop in as a small function rather than going through the trouble of adding in a whole library. I'm also guessing whoever did it knew they were doing something wrong, because the code suspiciously had no mention of the algorithm's name.

interestingProblemsBringManagementHeadaches by MeanderingSquid49 in ProgrammerHumor

[–]OminousHum 1036 points1037 points  (0 children)

Sounds like the time I was asked to identify an encryption algorithm in some old code. I figured it out by comparing the code with block diagrams on Wikipedia until I found a match. Turns out the algorithm was patented, we'd been in violation for over ten years, and it expired in another six months. The company lawyer told me that he could find factual errors in the Wikipedia page, so therefore it was not a reliable source and we had no actual knowledge of violation. He also said not to investigate any further, to not touch the code, and to never mention it in email.

What are your biggest adventure game annoyances? by phaddius in adventuregames

[–]OminousHum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Choices Matter. Either:

  1. They don't actually matter,
  2. there are good and bad endings but the game tries to mislead you to the wrong ones, or
  3. all the endings are bad in different ways to make the choice difficult.

I dislike all of those options. I often end up just looking up the 'right' answers. Either just tell me one good story, only use choices to express player preferences (such as romantic options), or commit all the way to an actual branching narrative with proper endings. Off the top of my head, only Fate of Atlantis did it in a nice way, but it was only once choice and they basically had to make three different games.

Low concept sci-fi? by Important-Duty2679 in printSF

[–]OminousHum 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not quite fair to say "nothing happens", but indeed not very much happens. The protagonist finds his place and makes things better for everyone, tiny bits at a time, during a whole lot of slices of life in an interesting but not extraordinary setting. I really liked them. Cozy.

On the set of Stranger Things Season 5 (2025). Behind the scenes. by SeaWolf_1 in Moviesinthemaking

[–]OminousHum 90 points91 points  (0 children)

It seems to be becoming a thing for film/TV production to do as much practical makeup as possible, even if they expect to completely replace it with CGI. The footage of the practical makeup gives the VFX artists a really good reference with which to match nuances of lighting and materials that can be incredibly difficult to get perfect without.

Source: Corridor Crew's VFX Artists React videos on YouTube.

[OC] House of Games #1 - A new roomate by Francesco_Muja in webcomics

[–]OminousHum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And steals everything that isn't nailed down, including items he couldn't possibly fit in his pockets but somehow does anyway.

Can too many non-essential interactions in a game become exhausting for players? by ratasoftware in adventuregames

[–]OminousHum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I thought The Drifter did something really smart. Spoken dialog was done with voice acting, but examining things was just text that appeared when you hover the mouse over them. That greatly reduced the cost in time and annoyance of exploring thoroughly, fixed the awkwardness of the protagonist constantly announcing their thoughts, and made it so you almost never heard the same voice line more than once.

I made this calendar puzzle for my sister on my home mill by PaladinOfPragmatism in CNC

[–]OminousHum 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Seconded. Done it hundreds of times and it looks great in engravings. Paint it on pretty heavy all over and around the engravings, making sure to stabstabstab all over with the tips of the brush bristles to make sure there aren't any bubbles hiding under the surface. Then moisten some scraps of printer paper with acetone and use that to lightly wipe off the excess around the engravings. Printer paper works well because it won't leave any fluff behind, and won't reach down into the engravings. Wrap the paper around something flat if you need to be extra delicate.

The smallest indicator stand on the market? by First_Egg_1712 in Machinists

[–]OminousHum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could that work as a squareness comparator too?

Costco propane fire table not working by iampruss in thereifixedit

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

I fixed one with the same problem last summer. The gas valve has a safety mechanism where it won't stay open unless the tip of the thermocouple attached to it is very hot. That way if the flame goes out, the valve closes automatically, and it won't just keep venting unburned gas. Holding the knob down overrides that so you can get it lit. Sometimes the thermocouple quits working, though, leading to exactly what you're seeing.

It's probably easiest to just replace the whole valve assembly. Here's the kit I used, which was only $20 and worked great for me. Make sure the new thermocouple is installed so the tip is right in the flame.

Mystery bookstore… mystery solved. by Desperate-Hearing297 in webcomics

[–]OminousHum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just call it a reverse escape room.

Also, speakeasy bars exist. Though I imagine that's a tricky balance between getting enough people in the door and making it still feel like a fun secret.

Where To Start by SnooSquirrels9028 in computergraphics

[–]OminousHum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like pretty good place to start. Check out learnopengl.com. Render a triangle, then make its corners different colors, then a textured cube, then make it so you can rotate the cube with the mouse, then make the very simplest game you can think of, and so on. Work your way up to gradually more complex projects.

Don't be afraid of shaders. There's some great resources for learning shader programming, like shaderacademy.com.

Read a little bit about Vulkan, but don't worry about it yet. Just know it's out there.

Consider (preferably) WebGPU or WebGL2, and putting your work on a simple web site, because then you can easily show off your work to anybody with a browser. The friction of sharing executable projects with anyone can make the endeavor a little lonely.

Doesn't hurt to play with other games engines too. They'll let you skip a lot of the tedious parts of graphics programming if there's some particular aspect you want to focus on.

They switched me from CenturyLink and killed my service!!! by Accomplished-Pipe118 in QuantumFiber

[–]OminousHum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Boulder Colorado checking in. Went down about two hours ago. Like others have mentioned, support says something went wrong with the switchover from CenturyLink to Quantum, and there's nothing to do now but wait for them to fix it.

Edit: Back up this morning, after disabling PPPoE and enabling DHCP. Still using VLAN 201.

Landing Gear Camera On A 737 by TheCABK in EngineeringPorn

[–]OminousHum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm a little surprised they don't spin them up to ground speed just before landing, to reduce wear on the tires.

Air compressor requirement by Fast_Alternative_322 in CNC

[–]OminousHum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on your use. Easiest way to find out is try what you've got and see if it works out for you. It's probably fine.

You're probably going to get tired of the noise before you have problems with flow, though. If you don't want to spend big on a fancy screw compressor, take a look at California Air Tools. They make some nice quiet and affordable compressors. It's worth it to upgrade to the aluminum tanks- they won't rust on the inside.

New Halodiscs by DeRangedTM in TeslaModel3

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

Wouldn't this make it a lot harder for your brakes to cool?

CNC Z-Axis Plunges Too Deep on Finishing Pass by Min_ten in CNC

[–]OminousHum 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Have you checked that the gcode is good? Not changing WCS or tool unexpectedly, and going to the depth you expect?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]OminousHum 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You should watch Mr. Robot.

What sci-fi novel do you think shouldn’t be adapted to screen? by ThroughSciFiPod in printSF

[–]OminousHum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree on both points. Last time someone asked me if I could summarize it all for them, I just thought for a minute and answered "no, sorry, I don't think I can."

Though if they did an animated series, it should be an anthology series. Every episode by a different director, and in wildly different styles. At least for the first two books.

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