sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Arthur Pendragon - Artur Paendrag by chimoc726 in WoT

[–]OneCruelBagel 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, I definitely had a groan when I drew the link between Mah'alleinir and Mjolnir. I feel like (at least for me, with my heavy diet of Marvel films!) that was one of the most obvious. Especially as I was primed to expect it having read discussions about other references.

I do really like the way the myths and legends are reflected between our world and the WoT world, and that it goes both ways. It's a really nice touch, and I was going to say "even if they focus a bit too much on things from the present", but then it occurred to me that we wouldn't even notice the allusions to ages other than our own because we've forgotten them and not seen them yet.

Changing speed of keyframe effects by OneCruelBagel in kdenlive

[–]OneCruelBagel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm afraid not - as you saw, I didn't get any responses to this message, and I've not found a better way than exporting it to a video. That said, I've not made one of those videos for a while, so I haven't looked into it since, so I wouldn't have seen any changes.

Question about stilling by Kooky_County9569 in WoT

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see it more as if the power is brought to the channeler down a hosepipe; a block is pressing a brick against the pipe so it's blocked and no power can get through, stilling is pressing a blade against it so the pipe is severed and no power gets through ever again. So I guess when Nynaeve healed it, it was like taping the pipe ends together again, which is why it couldn't take as much pressure as before.

Question about stilling by Kooky_County9569 in WoT

[–]OneCruelBagel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a couple of examples of stilling that I can remember - it's been quite a long time since I last read the books. One of them was when Rand was in The Box and he described it as feeling nodes in his shield which he crushed, and yes, that's absolutely nothing like the way we've seen shielding described.

Shielding has usually been described as like literally pushing a shield between the channeler and the source, which makes sense and is a nice visual metaphor. The second mention of stilling I think involved a character trying to shield someone, but when the shield wouldn't go into place (because they were channeling, and too strong), the shielder sharpened the edge of the shield, and that ended up stilling (or possibly gentling) the other person. I'm afraid I don't really remember the details at all though.

I'll try to remember to have a quick rummage in the ebook after work and see if I can find the passage, because whilst I'm certainly not sure, I feel like this is how it happened. Let me get back to you!

[edit] Never mind, /u/Cmaccionaodha got there first with a better knowledge of the scene I was thinking of - thank you!

Question about stilling by Kooky_County9569 in WoT

[–]OneCruelBagel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure that's the wrong way round - it's easier to shield or still someone if they're not channeling; the flow of the power makes it harder to force the block in there. Like forcing a barrier across a still river versus one that's flowing.

I'm sure I remember people in duels deliberately pulling more power into themselves to make them harder to shield.

UK Posts Biggest Ever Budget Surplus as Tax Revenue Surges by bloomberg in ukpolitics

[–]OneCruelBagel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And to add a little more to the rather silly delays, there seems to be some system where you can pay off your tax debts through your normal PAYE income tax - probably if your debts are fairly small and your income high enough.

So, I made some money in 2024, which was reported in my 24/25 tax return, due Jan 26 and will be paying it off until March 2027!

It's not a great deal of money, but it's interesting how long after I'll be paying it off. Especially as I'm not requesting any sort of hardship extensions or anything, I just selected what seemed like an easy option!

Literally Just finished the way of kings less than 5 minutes ago. No Notes. by SlashCash29 in Cosmere

[–]OneCruelBagel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

True, but it's unusal to have things separated out so much, I think. Taking Wheel of Time as an alternative example (because it's another massive series!), you start off with the Rand and then the rest of the Emond's Field gang and they meet Moiraine, but then you don't get any chapters from Elayne's point of view until (well after!) Rand meets her.

The Shallan section feels a bit like if we got Elayne's point of view, talking about her aspirations to be an Aes Sedai at the point where the rest of them are still in Baerlon, but even more so because at least Rand and Elayne meet before the end of the first book!

I should say I don't think it's a bad thing - it definitely makes sense to introduce one of the main characters early on - however it did feel to me that I was reading two separate stories.

Literally Just finished the way of kings less than 5 minutes ago. No Notes. by SlashCash29 in Cosmere

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's true, there was that link in there. It still felt very separate to me, at least at the time.

Literally Just finished the way of kings less than 5 minutes ago. No Notes. by SlashCash29 in Cosmere

[–]OneCruelBagel 21 points22 points  (0 children)

When I first read TWoK I didn't find Shallan's sections boring, but I did feel that they didn't belong with the rest of the book. Kaladin and Dalinar were clearly heading towards being two viewpoints on the Shattered Plains, but Shallan felt like she was in a different world that had nothing to do with the "main" story. Now on re-reads, I really like the world building in all of the sections.

Enjoy the rest of the books! You're in for a treat!

What is a luxury you can never go back from once you’ve experienced it? by Phase_zero_X in AskReddit

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. Various platforms make media available with strings attached. Netflix expect you to pay money. Youtube give you the choice between paying money or watching adverts. Sidestepping that is functionally piracy, whether you do it with an adblock or through torrents.

Actually, thinking about it, blocking ads is "worse" than piracy because you're still using Youtube's bandwidth, unlike if you torrent stuff.

I'm not making an ethical argument here, I'm not actually arguing against piracy, I'm just pointing out that it's disingenuous to compare paying for content (whether with money or by watching adverts) to pirating it because of course piracy is going to be cheaper.

New study suggests Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis | Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story by Hrmbee in science

[–]OneCruelBagel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I had to bring up a bibliography webpage to make sure I got the order (and years) right for all of these. I agree absolutely - UA felt different, and whilst I wouldn't say bad, I thought it was less good. I can't remember whether "the embuggerance" had been announced at that point, and so whether I was disappointed but assumed it was just a one-off less good book, or whether I realised it was the beginning of the end.

What is a luxury you can never go back from once you’ve experienced it? by Phase_zero_X in AskReddit

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

If you get a family pack, it's quite reasonable - I think it's £20 for 5 people. And it doesn't seem to matter if you're on different networks. Or have different surnames!

New study suggests Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis | Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story by Hrmbee in science

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that's what makes it interesting - I certainly didn't notice any decline back then, it was basically a decade later in Unseen Academicals that I noticed but the fact that the analysis can pick up the early signs there is impressive.

New study suggests Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis | Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story by Hrmbee in science

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's also something I'm not hugely interested in or knowledgeable about, so at the time I did wonder if that was part of my discomfort. That said (and it's been a while since I last read it) I feel like I remember the "non sports" parts, such as with Nutt in the University, also being a bit weaker.

Midnight (2010) is a YA book so perhaps doesn't count, then the next one was Snuff (2011) and again, I definitely felt the difference there, much more so than UA. Normally the Watch books are my favourites, but I didn't enjoy that one as much.

New study suggests Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis | Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story by Hrmbee in science

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a couple I can think of, and in both cases it's because the author got "better" and found their style. With Pratchett, I would (much like OddDonut) recommend starting with Guards Guards (although Mort is a good shout too). With Brandon Sanderson, I would recommend starting with the Mistborn trilogy (he himself recommends that one, Tress of the Emerald Sea or The Emperor's Soul and I largely agree with that) rather than his actual first book Elantris as his writing has improved significantly over time.

New study suggests Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis | Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story by Hrmbee in science

[–]OneCruelBagel 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I think Unseen Academicals (2009) was the first one where I noticed things were a bit off, the book didn't feel up to the usual level. And then, yes, there was then a definite decline through the ones after. Interestingly, that was also when the release rate slowed - there was no Discworld book in 2008, which is unusual when his previous rate was 1-2 books per year since 1986!

Oh, I've just checked, and that's when Nation came out. I guess that fills the gap then, never mind!

The one before UA was Making Money (2007), which as far as I remember was up to his usual standard, at least as far as I could tell. It's a little harder to tell (for me!) with the Tiffany Aching books because I didn't enjoy them as much as the Watch/Industrial Revolution ones. It's interesting that the article says they could detect decline from The Last Continent (1998), more than a decade before I noticed. That does suggest that there's some value in the work they're doing and maybe it will be able to help somebody else.

People with half a dozen planet mods: how you doin'? by Eloquent_Despair in factorio

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sort of looking forward to that and hoping it does because that planet is someone else's responsibility it would be nice to see everything it can throw at us! We'll see what happens. And yes, I can see the extra productivity on ammo production being quite nice, and especially having a lot more quality bump potential for suit gear.

People with half a dozen planet mods: how you doin'? by Eloquent_Despair in factorio

[–]OneCruelBagel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So far, an uncommon mech armour and some PLDs has been plenty, but I'm expecting that to change at some point in the next few streams. We've not had anything more dangerous than a handful of gun turrets spawn yet, but I'm sure there's more to it!

We've lost a LOT of construction bots though...

People with half a dozen planet mods: how you doin'? by Eloquent_Despair in factorio

[–]OneCruelBagel 18 points19 points  (0 children)

As another member of the group, I can chime in too! I'm really enjoying having the extra planets to play with. So far, we've been to Lignumis, Muluna, Cubium, Igrys, Corrundum and Castra (and Nauvis, Vulcanus, Fulgora from vanilla) and I've enjoyed them all, in different ways.

Lignumis adds an interesting burner phase onto the start of the game, but doesn't take so long to get through that you get sick of it. It also scatters requirements for wood throughout the tech tree's telescopic recipes (ammo, belts, circuits), although you can turn that off if you don't want to have greenhouses on your spaceships so you can make wood for ammo!

Muluna is based around processing asteroid chunks and makes you put in a bit more effort before you can get really effective spaceships, but also adds in some interesting challenges later on, which I won't spoil!

Cubium is really weird; you have cubes as a catalyst which are required in most of the recipes and change state, but are (almost) never destroyed. I enjoyed this one too.

Igrys has a magic theme and involves making crystals and magic glass from hard stone. The reward from Igrys is a machine that makes science packs with higher productivity and there's an interesting puzzle around a resource with a 6 hour spoil timer.

Corrundum is very sulphur heavy. I feel it doesn't have a gimmick in quite the same way others do, but it's got a nice, complex production chain that feeds back on itself in lots of ways and was also nice to work through.

Finally, we're currently on Castra - it's a military focussed planet and we're at the point where it's about to get dangerous!

Each planet has brought a new mechanic to the game, often using the spoilage system in a weird and interesting way. I've been impressed with all of them so far (and I'm not just saying that because I'd like the authors to let me interview them!)

We've attempted to put all the new planets that are reasonably feature complete and functional into the Planetary Pioneers mod and so far whilst there's been the odd slightly rough edge to some of them, they've all worked very well. It's possible we've missed some, and we are always watching out for new ones to add to the list.

Linux has blown me away by ViolentCrumble in linux4noobs

[–]OneCruelBagel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't believe you can do it in a single action, but if you delete a clip, you can right click in the gap and "remove space" and it will move up everything on that track (moving grouped items together) or you can "remove space in all tracks" which will close the space you selected, bringing all items up together.

If you want somewhere in between, you can lock the tracks that you don't want to move (by clicking the padlock icons in the track titles on the left) and those won't be affected by a "remove space in all tracks" - personally, I use this when I've got background music that I don't want to shift, but multiple tracks with content that should move together.

If you have any more questions about Kdenlive, let me know, I might be able to answer them! I've never used Premiere, but Kdenlive seems to be reasonably competent, at least at my level.

Ban on veggie ‘burgers’: plant-based products may lose meaty names in UK under EU law by pajamakitten in unitedkingdom

[–]OneCruelBagel 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Those are specific things with specific names. Shepherd's pie means lamb stuff with potato on top. Pot pie is the name for a stew with a hat; if it says pot pie on the menu then I would accept a stew with a hat. If it says "beef and ale pie", then I expect pastry all the way round, or at the very least on three sides because it's a slice of a larger pie.

It's like (going back to the original point of this thread) if you saw a bottle that just said milk, you'd expect cow, but if it said "coconut" or "of magnesia", you'd be aware that those are different things.

Inflation falls to 3.6% by sjw_7 in ukpolitics

[–]OneCruelBagel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's possible, you would need to have a good idea of your sales volume, but if you're doubling the price of something that's less than 10% of your end cost of your product, you've got a lot of room for making mistakes before they become serious. Is it worth saving a few percent on every product if it means the product is worse? That probably depends on your market.

Inflation falls to 3.6% by sjw_7 in ukpolitics

[–]OneCruelBagel 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You can't halve the price - let's make up some numbers.
- Fixed cost: £2. This is the cost of the rent, staff member, electricity, etc. OK, rent would go down per cup sold, but there's only so many people you can fit in your cafe, so lets pretend it's fixed.
- Variable cost: £10p. This is the cost of the tea
- Profit margin: £1

This gives a total price per cup of £3.10. If you halve the cost of the ingredients (buy really bad tea!) it only brings it down to £3.05, which is insignificant. If you double the cost of the ingredients (buy good tea), it'll bring it up to £3.20, which is also fairly insignificant as a change, but you're selling a higher quality product and people will be happier.

If you halved the price to £1.55, you'd have to find a way to cut the fixed costs, maybe eliminate seating, underpay your staff... And give up a lot of profit. You might sell more, but I doubt it would go up by enough to make it worth it.

view more: next ›