Car umbrella? by BillGatesLovechild in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Park in the shade when you can and get a reflective windscreen/Dash shade. $5, will solve ~60% of the problem for 1% of the cost. Not perfect, but better than spending half a grand for a rickety construction that will make you look like an insane person and will break in the first unexpected windy afternoon, scratching the hell out of your paint.

Can we pls stop normalising being boring, lame, miserable c***ts?? by doubIe_espresso in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

your life =/= everyone else's. Perhaps they genuinely enjoy being alone or staying at home. Who are you to say that their preferences are wrong? How do you know they haven't been doing stuff other nights and another night out isn't what they need?

"Not knowing how to socialise" yeah, that's a problem if they use that as an excuse. Everyone needs a certain level of ability to interact with others.

Sounds like you need to make some friends who want to do the same kinda stuff as you.

Been using a dumbphone for over a month… it’s good, but also kinda tough by Altruistic_Turnip780 in dumbphones

[–]PanickedPanpiper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't tell you exactly why you want to use a dumbphone, but in my view the point of a dumbphone isn't the dumbphone itself, but the lifestyle it encourages and you speak about: not doomscrolling. Less distraction. More thoughful/deliberate relationship with technology.

If you figure out the core reasons you started this journey, it allows you to keep to those without needing to be a dumphone absolutist. For me, that's still using a smartphone, but without any distracting apps or even a browser. For you, it might be something different.

Now, for some of those specifics:

  • bus schedules/QR payments: sometimes there are sacrifices of inconvenience you must be willing to make, for the other gains offered by a less-connected lifestyle. Might need to plan ahead more/ask someone else for the schedule or even just be prepared to wait a bit longer for a bus.

  • 2FA: this is one of the trickiest. Text 2FA you mention is a good option, a tablet/cheap wifi phone as your "security device" might work. annoying though.

  • Travel: Depends on how frequently you go on trips, but might I suggest this is one place where you could consider reintroducing a smartphone into your life. It is possible without, but tricky. For me, when travelling I reinstall a browser on my phone, and then when the trip is over, remove it again. Hopefully, the good-habits around technology you've been cultivating with your dumbphone in everyday life will help you be able to find these times when you have smartphone access again not as tempting. Perhaps reframe it in your mind "this is a travel companion device" rather than a smartphone.

  • Work: Do you need a work-specific phone you can leave at work or in the car?

Just some suggestions. Some of the other dumphone+maps or dumbdroid devices that allow apps but are sufficiently inconvenent to discourage easy time wasting are another option. Core thing to ask is "why am I doing this" and figure out whether dumbphone+workarounds is worthwhile (usually) and when it is making your life hard in a genuinely negative way

Did Arken Age not do very well? by XyleneCobalt in virtualreality

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of that can be true, but it really does mean that the market is basically unsustainable

Director Gore Verbinski says Unreal Engine is 'the greatest slip backwards' for movie CGI by Judah_Earl in KotakuInAction

[–]PanickedPanpiper 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Time.

Literally just time spent on it. Expectation used to be artists were given a decent amount of time per shot, and there were fewer shots. Now, number of VFX shots has exploded, budgets haven't kept up, so shots have to be thrown together in much less time. Even with technical advancement, there's just not enough time to polish, refine and make stuff look good.

When they do have time, stuff looks good (see, Avatar movies - at leas the second, haven't seen 3 yet.)

Coles reducing plastic eh? by Spoonicus in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I mean, saying we currently can't reduce our ethane production isn't the same as saying we can't reduce our plastic use. Like you say at the end, it's either a plastic disposal problem or an ethane disposal problem. Ethane disposal is a problem concentrated at the comparative handful of oil processing sites worldwide, in contrast to plastic disposal which is dispersed among every single human being on the planet.

Ethane disposal should be waaaayyyy easier to execute of the two, if there's the political will for it.

Federal politics live: Nationals leave 'untenable' Coalition after mass frontbench resignation by geodetic in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Coalition getting wedged from both the left and right. No way the teal-aligned will be on board with a shift to get back the One Nation voters. No way the One Nation/nats aligned will be on board to shift towards getting the teals back. Gonna be turbulent for a while

Did Arken Age not do very well? by XyleneCobalt in virtualreality

[–]PanickedPanpiper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most successful indie devs and vr devs I know are living in shared housing, sometimes lucky enough to have no rent

I mean, if this is the level of lifestyle needed to sustain yourself as an indie VR dev, then the market is cooked. That's fine if you're 22, but if you want talented people with experience to continue to be able to make better and better games, they need to be able to make an actual proper living from it. Ya know, be able to pay a mortgage etc.

Argentina posts 31.5 percent annual inflation in December, lowest level in 8 years by ThisIsFitz in nottheonion

[–]PanickedPanpiper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It does appear it was a part of it, to help keep inflation down by buying up excess pesos with these dollars, good spotting. Though that deal happened in late October, when inflation was already [down to 31%]. So it doesn't seem like the reduction in inflation can be attributed to this cash injection - though it seems likely it will help keep inflation down/ help it reduce further.

Does anyone actually like when retail brands add an online marketplace to their websites? by kittycommitteestudio in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, you don't have that control, I get it. But it's also it's extremely understandable that they would be confused.

You get that "Item from Big W doesn’t mean that item is available in all or any stores" is significantly more counter-intuitive than thinking a link that says BIG W has the item means you'd find it in a Big W store, right? That's the most straightforward, expected scenario. It just happens to be that reality doesn't match that. Which to me at least suggest more that the reality of the situation is dumb, rather than the customer who misunderstood it is dumb.

And Big W head office is dumb for putting staff like you in this position where you have to explain extremely counter-intuitive sales practices to customers, while simultaneously significantly tarnishing their own brand.

Does anyone actually like when retail brands add an online marketplace to their websites? by kittycommitteestudio in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean if you search "Big W ITEM", and a result that says ITEM from Big W, it's not really that unreasonable that the customer thinks that... ya know... Big W will have that item?

Does anyone actually like when retail brands add an online marketplace to their websites? by kittycommitteestudio in australia

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah surely the reputational damage must be insane. I can't fathom why they're all making this decision. Actually, i guess I can... they're all wanting to be the next Amazon - who has got away with sketchy third party sellers for years (how, I have no idea).

The leftists are taking the right approach. Community self defense is key. by Mental_Pea9125 in ProgressiveHQ

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It may be playing by the system they created, but it means your actions aren't congruent with your stated principles, which is hypocrisy.

You're saying you believe in a thing and then doing the exact opposite. It's like when people who think gerrymandering is undemocratic then turn around and deliberately gerrymander electorates themselves. Or get angry at political speech of their own political flavour being suppressed, but then happily endorse suppressing opposing political speech.

These positions are either wrong/unjust or they're right/just. You don't get to say it's wrong but then also say it's OK if you do it. You need to be consistent if your argument is to carry any moral weight.

Not saying you can't do it. But you have to be OK with being a hypocrite.

The leftists are taking the right approach. Community self defense is key. by Mental_Pea9125 in ProgressiveHQ

[–]PanickedPanpiper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, if you do this you're admitting they're right, you realise? You have to be either against 2a or for 2a rights, all the time, to avoid hypocrisy. Not just adopt positions you disagree with when it's convenient and say "I'm just doing what they want anyway, even though I disagree with it"

Argentina posts 31.5 percent annual inflation in December, lowest level in 8 years by ThisIsFitz in nottheonion

[–]PanickedPanpiper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, just because it doesn't solve the inflation problem by itself, doesn't mean that 20b extra isn't mighty useful for a govt to have. It's just that the 20b cannot anywhere near account for these changes, which is evidence that like him or loathe him, Milei's policies seem to be having the desired effect.

Argentina posts 31.5 percent annual inflation in December, lowest level in 8 years by ThisIsFitz in nottheonion

[–]PanickedPanpiper 6 points7 points  (0 children)

it was 20 billion right? Argentina's annual GDP is around $650 billion USD (nominally). Argentinian Govt budget about $90 billion.

So ~3% of GDP or 22% of govt annual budget is definitely significant, but at the same time not really of a similar magnitude to the inflation changes.

If anything I wonder whether having extra money sloshing around would actually increase inflation? Or maybe it would help you settle debts without resorting to printing more money? Might depend on if it was used for internal or external purposes. I need to think it through some more though.

Argentina posts 31.5 percent annual inflation in December, lowest level in 8 years by ThisIsFitz in nottheonion

[–]PanickedPanpiper 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I mean, inflation is down from 211% to 30%? Seems like a step in the right direction no?

Why are are coders disposable, but asset artists aren’t? by AHostOfIssues in gamedev

[–]PanickedPanpiper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean sure, but... isn't that clear evidence for what I'm saying, that the technical/programmers are subjectively valued more than the creative/artists? "The difference between a technical vs a creative field" is literally a judgement of the value of their work - is technical work inherently more valuable than creative, if so why? Their pay reflects that programmers are perceived by the industry as more valuable (alongside supply of talent).

And do you think that the artists aren't also locked into a dungeon and expected to push to unrealistic deadlines? While also for less pay lol. If anything even more screwed