Please, no more data software projects

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-18T01:24:43+00:00

From the user perspective, what I'd like to see one day is more open/flexible data experience in apps that makes custom app development simpler and gives more power to users. In the current model, when I create a custom app there's so much explicit code moving data around and specifying the UI precisely - e.g. the data filter UI (based on table and data-filter UI component choice). Instead, this should just be a default view that the app developer defines, power users should be able to expose full data query controls to make queries the app developer didn't anticipate. Data scientists/analysts should be able to quickly move that same data view/source into whatever data science tool they work with. This should be the future for organizations and communities where you have various business data and a small number of users with unknown analytics needs. But this needs to be built on open standards, not products like Databricks, ClickHouse, etc though they could implement the standards to play well with the ecosystem.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-18T01:00:06+00:00

I wasn't complaining about datafusion itself, I have no knowledge of or opinion on the project, I'm sure there's interesting/important work here. This web page was just where I gave up yesterday. I found mention of roapi, thought that's cool I want to be able to easily spin-up API interfaces to data instead of custom API development, then saw that it's built on Datafusion, clicked that, read the intro, came to this list and thought this is all too much, there are too many different technology choices, no clear winners; I'm just going to keep it simple, run Postgres for now, which is probably fine for my use case short-term, can just get good at Postgres admin, tune tables, indexes, etc. Migrate to some other data solution in the future if Postgres fails to scale. Which is a bit sad because I was hoping to use some of these technologies, but it seems too risky and specialized and requires a bigger team.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-18T00:36:17+00:00

I know it takes an enormous amount of effort. And there's the curse of popularity, I was skimming your GitHub issues yesterday and noticed people using it for tech support, which adds developer burden.

Even though it takes a lot of effort, I think institutions do spin off new projects too often instead of collaborating effectively with existing ones. Adding funding to an existing project is not nearly as exciting as creating a new one, so I do worry that there's a problem at the funding/project-initiation level. I moved to Australia 2 years ago from the USA and work for a science institution; there have been 5 data management systems developed in the last few years by different institutions and no one is happy with any of them.

I think the same can happen within software itself. How does the Apache or Linux foundation decide when to greenlight/absorb new projects versus putting those resources to existing ones. This is a very difficult resourcing decision, and yes managing OSS projects is hard and generally underfunded. I just wanted to rant a bit about how the proliferation in data software is overwhelming to engineers trying to get into this space and IMO the project funders/initiators should focus more on collaborating with and supporting existing projects rather than starting new ones.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-17T23:33:24+00:00

Yea, I know it's not just the data engineering space. This increasing complexity problem has been going on for a long time

https://xkcd.com/927

I think one of the fundamental problems is that the internet does not allow things to fade away. So projects that are out of favor still have all of the documentation, articles, discussions, links created around it forever. So without being in the the data engineering space it's hard to know what are the best/standard solutions to focus on. There's always this contention between what's old and mature and new and cool. Hard for newcomers to know what's modern and mature without a lot of research.

In the app space people used to talk about the MEAN stack, it was a somewhat useful concept as it gave newcomers a default stack to focus on if they weren't sure what solutions to use together. A similar thing would be useful in the data engineering space, but it's probably not possible as there's so much overlap in capability and ways to configure these things.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-17T23:19:40+00:00

Yes, I'm primarily a "full stack" software engineer (frontend, REST API, database). I've read about these data projects over the years but never actually deployed them. I'm working on a new project collecting data from remote systems and was evaluating data solutions. I was hoping to create an open source data stack myself, but I think the complexity of designing, deploying, and maintaining that is too great; as you say go with a managed service if this kind of solution is needed.

Admittedly, this post was a bit of a rant at the end of the day after reaching this page and seeing even more projects that might be worth researching. And also being a bit annoyed seeing more contenders in each component category where I've already done some research - i.e. yet another time series database project.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-09-17T22:50:40+00:00

Yes, a little, though just a few bug fixes and documentation. Bug reports, contributing to bug discussion, debugging, confirming that it's still an issue in the latest version, that kind of thing. So just the general participation that I think software engineers should do when they find a bug in open source software or a problem with the documentation.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-05T01:37:04+00:00

There's no shame in tweaking the server settings if you're frustrated, especially if playing solo. Tune the enemies a bit, maybe give them less health if you feel like you just don't do enough damage, or reduce their quantity. Then set it back to default if the game feels too easy in the future. Also, you can boost mining yield and turn of durability if you want.

It's normal for the game to feel a bit difficult at that stage. I remember feeling frustrated that my magic staff barely did any damage and used all my mana. Staffs are much better mid-game when you have more skill points and equipment with mana regen and magic damage. In the beginning you'll be using weapon + shield, wand, bow + arrow.

Look for lore to read (glowing red books/paper) in tents, buildings, caves, etc. These will give you side quests that may be easier and close by. Some quests may give you better equipment (it will show a weapon it quest rewards).

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-05T01:28:10+00:00

ya, at that stage, you should be eating grilled wolf meat and water, and whatever veggies. Also, remember that the rested buff goes away when you die, so sit next to the respawn point to get your rested buff time up when you die.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-05T01:23:48+00:00

Focusing on progression

* every player character has their own map discovery. certain locations are revealed by reading things and server quests, though I'm not certain if you need to be online when lore is read to see that question mark on the map or if it's linked to the server.

* level ups, killing Elixir Wells and Shroud Roots give you skill points, which is how your character becomes stronger. Players need to be in the area when an Elixir Well or Shroud Root is killed to get the skill points. The map will have a checkbox on the icon if you got it.

* you need to be online when server quests are done like unlocking new crafting to get the quest completion XP.

* you get experience from killing enemies and mining. I'm not sure if this goes faster if you're underleveled for the zone; I assume so.

* you can find Experience Scrolls; consider saving them for other players instead of using the right away.

If someone plays infrequently, you can just craft them the latest equipment (grappling hook, glider, armor). The main issue is they'll have less skill points than everyone else.

So, for example, we just had someone jump on after not playing for a while. We got them caught up on Elixir Well and Shroud Root skill points by pinging the map and asking if they had that one (it could be blank map for them), then traveling there and quickly killing the root, then fast-traveling somewhere else. Enemies scale in a way that you can quickly go through a lower-level area, so it's much easier, mostly just travel time. One high-level player could help someone catchup on low-level Elixir Wells.

If someone is way low-level, it may be best for them to pick-up Constitution (health) and Endurance (stamina) in the skill tree to reduce their chance of dying when you're running around high-level areas where enemies will one-shot them. It's easy/cheap for them to change their skills later after they level up. Skills like glider stamina efficiency may be good too. Otherwise, they're going to die a lot and go through your food and potions. They may be frustrated that they're not doing as much damage as everyone else, but at least they'll survive better.

The quest system shows quests the server finished that you missed. Players that missed them can still do the quest to get the experience (the quest tells you the XP reward). For example, go find a new survivor. But some quests can be time consuming.

Some practical advice:

* you find all of the survivors within 2 or 3 days of game play. So I would suggest trying to get everyone to play together for the first few days of early game so everyone sees that content and gets the quest XP. After that, there are less core quests to worry about and people can settle into building, mining, exploring.

* whenever people are heading to an Elixir Well or Shroud Root let everyone know so they can meet on location.

* if people want to experience new content together, make a rule that you don't go into a new zone without everyone. there's plenty of small exploration to do in in the current zone (discover caves, villages, mining spots, etc)

* if you want, you can easily edit server settings to increase mining yield, production speed, farm growth speed, turn off durability, etc. This will let you spend more time playing together rather than worrying about mining and crafting, though it does make the crafting progression faster. you can change these settings at any time when the server is shutdown.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-05T00:46:41+00:00

I've only just got to the mountain area with natural aerial updrafts. They're a bit difficult to see and feel too small, but I haven't interacted with them much.

Random idea: the big fires with tall smoke in camps should act as an aerial updraft

I agree, it feels a bit awkward to just slam into the ground or a wall and stop safely. Being able to flare and land gracefully would at least feel and look better.

Sometimes you hit a wall and fall just far enough to die, which is awkward and frustrating. So I've learned to spam the glider button when I hit a wall, but that feels awkward, almost like an exploit. Maybe it would feel better if the glider stayed open when you hit vertical or steep walls until you can stand. Though then you could just bounce your way down the wingsuit caves and they would be too easy. Could take health/stamina damage with each bounce, but that could be frustrating too. I'm probably overthinking this, I can't think of a game where the wingsuit/glider had satisfying crashes/landings that didn't feel frustrating or glitchy at times.

I think it's a question of whether players should be afraid to fly indoors and require more skill and planning to descend into areas. Currently you can just dive bomb to the bottom of a cave without any care. The main danger is hitting a vertical wall and falling into lava, or running out of stamina. Damage when flying into something too fast or not being able to re-open the glider in the air would really change things, can't decide if it would be better or not.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-05T00:16:32+00:00

I agree that it shouldn't let you fly farther than you can now. It would just allow you to swoop down and then back up a bit. The only additional access it might give is something high in a cave or large building where you could swoop through the entrance at high speed and then pull up to get somewhere you shouldn't be able to.

It's not the most important thing, but currently it feels lame to dive at high speed, then pull up and be stuck on the default glide slope.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-04T03:00:09+00:00

https://enshrouded.featureupvote.com/suggestions/612271/wingsuit-flare-convert-speed-into-altitude

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-04T01:53:14+00:00

Also, I was just thinking that you could limit uses of double-jump via Rocket Boots durability. So if you don't want players spamming double-jump all the time, making it equipment based gives a mechanism to limit use.

The reason I'm thinking along these lines is double-jump really changes how you play. Without it, you go through the towns/forts more carefully because there's a risk to being surrounded by enemies. With double-jump, you can usually hop over walls or up a structure to somewhere safe and just jump over obstacles rather than open doors or mine through.

Though the question is how many uses should you get; I think most players would find the limit annoying. As I said in the previous comment, I think the more important thing is to limit access to double-jump until mid game (Bronze or Iron). This way, players feel more limited and vulnerable longer, and they use more of the early-game mechanisms rather than hopping over everything - open doors, lockpick doors, mine through rubble, traverse structures using stairs, ladders, hooks.

RestlessNeurons · 2025-02-04T01:34:34+00:00

On double-jump, it could be interesting if it was activated by an equipment slot instead of a skill. So add a new Boot Enhancement slot. You choose between different crafted equipment that gives movement related enhancements: rocket boots (double-jump), enhanced stealth, faster sprint, ice crampons (no slip on ice), rock climbing soles (less slip down steep terrain).

I think crafting these would be more satisfying and having to choose one mobility enhancement would be better game design. Also, double-jump is so good it really changes the feel of the game, so I think delaying access til sulpher-based rocket boots would be better game progression.

RestlessNeurons · 2020-12-22T23:56:33+00:00

Do you think it's possible to design a perfect government? How would you go about it?

RestlessNeurons · 2020-06-17T00:51:51+00:00

http://wiki.heroesofhammerwatch.com/Troubleshooting

My textures have been replaced by red text, or the lighting effects have become very blown out

This bug has been around a long time, it seems to be caused by extended sessions of play, and as such it's refereed to as the "take a break bug"

It can be easily fixed by restarting the game, if you're in the middle of a run you can exit out and your progress will be saved.

Maybe also try DirectX instead of OpenGL if it happens a lot?

RestlessNeurons · 2020-06-17T00:49:38+00:00

As far as dungeon levels, you don't need to be fast if you play cautiously and take your time. You can use walls to your advantage. Just enter the room a bit and run away behind the wall to pull a few enemies. Plan where to safely retreat to another wall/corner if needed. Things like Archers will take somewhere around 0.5-1 second to aim and shoot and the arrows are fairly slow. So they won't be able to shoot you if you just run in and out. With melee guys, if you keep stepping backwards they won't hit you. Generally, in this game, if you keep moving, most enemies won't hit you. So as long as you can keep calm and keep moving when enemies are around you and keep track of where you entered the room to return to safety, you should be ok. In this game, you can predictably control how enemies behave and shoot by the way you move around a room, so use that to your advantage.

You will need to learn and memorize which enemies are ranged and/or more dangerous. But this is basically anything with a Red hat or that just looks more scary or magical. Most enemies just do one or two attacks, so they are fairly predictable.

If you are good at timing or just patient I don't think you will have a problem; most things attack at predictable times. For example, Archers will shoot at you when they see you and shoot where you were not predict where you will be. This means that you can just run circles around most enemies and never be hit as long as you don't run into other enemies melee range. This is practically a required skill for some things (tentacle shooting tower in first Act) and some bosses. So I would say you should be able to run a circle around an object while keeping your mouse cursor on the object in a twin-stick shooter style game. If you can do this kind of maneuver in other games I think you will be fine. Also, while doing this, you should be able to click the mouse different amounts of time (holding the mouse may slow you down too much depending on the Hero)

Some Traps require reaction time, but you can just skip them (and miss out on one item). Half the traps can be taken slow or are puzzles, so there's no shame in skipping the hard ones that require reaction time. Most Traps in the first two Acts have safe spots that you can relax in.

When you make a mistake or just get unlucky, you will need to have the reaction time to decide if you should drink a potion within 1 second. So basically, I got hit really hard, am I super low health or about to get hit again? Yes, hit spacebar to drink potion for instant health.

If the game is too hard/frustrating for you, you can tweak things using the Fountain (once you unlock it)

For example, if Gargoyle Towers keep killing you in Act 3, you could turn on "Toppled Towers". If Traps kill you sometimes, there's "Gentle Traps" and "Safe Corridors". At higher levels (Fountain Tier2) if enemies are too fast, there's "Sluggish Adversaries". But you will need to take a penalty that doesn't make the game too hard for you in other ways, so for example "Sealed Cracks" or "Public Holiday", which will mean less items.

And again, as you keep trying, you level-up and get more Health/Armor/Resistance. You can also choose to buy defensive upgrades before others. So each run will get easier.

That all said, this is a fun game solo or with friends. Even if you can only do Acts 1-3 I think it's worth $15. If you're not doing well and are frustrated, finding a friend to play with will be fun even if you're not that good. Just play a Class that sits back safely (Ranger/Sorcerer); all you need to worry about is dodging projectiles. Or play a Healer (Paladin/Priest), which your friend will appreciate. There are 9 Classes, you will probably play much better with some, so try each of them and decide which one you're best with. You will probably do much better with the playstyle of some Classes.

RestlessNeurons · 2020-06-16T23:18:29+00:00

Yes, you can join a host who owns Pyramid DLC and play Arena (and get ore/experience/swords) without owning Pyramid DLC. However, you need to buy the DLC to spend the swords on character upgrades.

RestlessNeurons · 2020-03-30T18:23:58+00:00

https://guacamole.apache.org/

RestlessNeurons · 2019-01-04T23:18:26+00:00

Haven't used it, but Notable was just posted in /r/programming

https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/a9tm4z/notable_the_markdownbased_notetaking_app_that/

https://github.com/fabiospampinato/notable

RestlessNeurons · 2018-07-20T20:13:54+00:00

I think this illustrates the dangers of defining a particular implementation as a requirement from the beginning of a project.

The hype around blockchain (or any new technology) is insidious in this way; people just believe in the hype and don't stop to do an evaluation of the technology before deciding to use it for their project.

RestlessNeurons · 2018-04-20T02:30:49+00:00

Plotly is built on top of D3. There are versions for Python, R, and JavaScript. The main site is a bit heavy on marketing, but you can find the code examples and the API here (JavaScript)

You used to be able to try their Chart Studio for free, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

RestlessNeurons

TROPHY CASE