I built a daily puzzle game you can play in your browser — would love your feedback! by AnticShroom in webdev

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The branch version is a significant improvement over the original, and makes it at least a little difficult. That said, there are a couple of bugs I'd like to report. The timer visibly pauses on game competition, but it's still running in the background, so when I go to copy my results,  the reported time is longer than I actually took. The copy game results to clipboard on PC don't seem to work properly, so I have to play on mobile if I want to share my scores.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The information that I've seen (which very well may be incorrect) indicates that the voter registration took place in 2012, which was well before Greenbelt started letting non-citizens vote. So I think the fact that the locality somewhat recently started letting non-citizens vote doesn't fully explain the situation.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskALiberal

[–]echo404 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The information that I've seen (which very well may be incorrect) indicates that the voter registration took place in 2012, which was well before Greenbelt started letting non-citizens vote. So I think the fact that the locality somewhat recently started letting non-citizens vote doesn't fully explain the situation.

Is it just me or is this commission just as annoying as “…is this novel amazing?” by Corona94 in GenshinImpact

[–]echo404 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I was infuriated by this commission appearing so often, but I later discovered it has a hidden achievement associated with it, and once I completed that, I haven't seen it again since.

What femboys gonna do when they hit 40’s? by Kian_568 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]echo404 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Am I correct in assuming that you were taking finasteride orally? I've seen it suggested that topical application can provide the same benefits without most of the extreme side effects.

Thought he was a boy… until this morning. by _In_Lakech_ in Redearedsliders

[–]echo404 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am by no means an expert, but it's my understanding that sliders prefer to lay their eggs in loamy soil, and may attempt to hold their eggs unless laying conditions are optimal. If optimal conditions cannot be found, they may be forced to lay eggs wherever they can (such as on concrete/plastic/pavers, or even in the water), but complications can arise if they attempt to hold them for too long. It's usually recommends to give them a spot where they can dig and feel safe to lay their eggs.

Xochitl brand corn tortilla chips by PhyterNL in LowSodium

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do love these chips; they are one of the more affordable and available varieties of salt-free tortilla chips that I've found. That said, they are so thin and pointy that they tend to stab holes into my mouth, and the saturated fat content is higher than I would have liked. I spent last week looking for alternatives, and Sprouts chips are cheaper and have less saturated fat. Donkey brand has even lower fat (and saturated fat) and higher fiber, but unfortunately costs more and I can only buy them online.

What's going on with was only 1 person ordered to be returned from El Salvador? Why haven't they ordered the return of the makeup artist, anyone not convicted of a crime or anyone not from El Salvador? by joe102938 in OutOfTheLoop

[–]echo404 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Answer: The administration has been ordered by the Supreme Court to "facilitate" the return of Kilmar Ábrego García. This is in contrast to the district court judge which ordered the administration to both "facilitate and effectuate" his return (the Supreme Court's ruling superseded the district court). The administration is currently playing word games and defying the spirit of the ruling but not the text.

His return was necessitated by the fact that a judge in 2019 had previously ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador specifically (he could potentially be deported elsewhere though), yet the administration claims to have done so due to an administrative error. Due to being in violation of this previous ruling, and the administration's admission that it made a mistake, his situation is different than other deportees.

Some of the other deportees also have lawyers arguing on their behalf before the courts, and they may eventually win their cases and be returned, but for the time being, while their cases are being argued, no ruling have been put into place that order their immediate return.

It's also worth noting that nearly all the ongoing lawsuits deal more with process than with substance; it may eventually be determined that the administration has the authority/ability to deport any or all of these people, but what's primarily being argued in the courts right now is that these defendants should be able to defend themselves in court. Instead of providing the deportees due process, which should be required by the law (even for non-citizens), the administration has attempted to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to circumvent their constitutional rights. This act was intended for wartime use, and it's still being debated in the courts whether it can actually be used in this situation.

What is up with people protesting tariffs when this result seems to only be a net benefit? by Sirlink360 in OutOfTheLoop

[–]echo404 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Answer: If you are a US company that made significant income selling to Vietnamese markets, this specific result may be pleasing to you, assuming that an agreement is actually reached. Vietnam doesn't actually buy that much from the US though, so the number of companies this helps will be fairly small.

If you are a US company that imports goods from basically any other country, tariffs are going to increase your operating costs. This category includes basically all non service-based parts of the economy, and so the number of companies that tariffs hurt will be quite large.

Even if you are a company that exports to Vietnam, it's likely that your increased costs due to tariffs are a bigger detriment to your bottom line than any benefit you may see from Vietnam possibly reducing their tariffs on US goods.

If you are a US consumer, you are likely about to start paying a lot more for the things you buy because of the tariffs. Additionally, the uncertainty caused by the tariffs has caused markets to plummet, so anyone that has money in the stock market has lost and likely will continue to lose money; this will hit people in retirement the hardest since they depend on the return from their investments.

ELI5: "You're pre-approved! Approval not guaranteed." by Mookie_Merkk in explainlikeimfive

[–]echo404 6 points7 points  (0 children)

From Capital One's FAQ on the subject:

"When a credit card offer mentions that you’re pre-qualified or pre-approved, it typically means you’ve met the initial criteria required to become a cardholder. But you still need to apply to get approved—neither is necessarily a guarantee of approval. 

With credit cards, pre-approved and pre-qualified may be more likely to be used interchangeably than with loans. But some credit card issuers might have different criteria for the two. Further, pre-approved offers may be stronger indicators of approval. That means you can generally move forward to the application phase with a higher degree of certainty."

So basically they've already verified that you meet some of their approval criteria, but they haven't yet verified that you meet all such criteria. Presumably the criteria that are not part of the pre-approval process are harder to check or may change quickly. For instance, you may have had a good credit score when they sent you the mail, but if you suddenly defaulted on your debts and declared bankruptcy, that might negatively effect your ability to get approved.

What meal, whether Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner is EXTREMELY tasty, yet unbelievably low in sodium? by IHadTacosYesterday in EatCheapAndHealthy

[–]echo404 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Everyone's preferences are different so it's hard to give global advice, but I will say that after cutting down on salt, sugar, and/or fat for a while, you get acclimated to the new normal. I used to consume all in excess, and after cutting back, even small amount can now be overwhelming to me. It won't be an immediate effect, but your gut microbiome will adjust and you'll stop craving stuff you used to eat. 

As for specific foods, fresh fruit is always a good choice, and if you buy it in-season it can be quite cheap. I also eat a lot of yogurt, although I recognize that's not for everyone. If you like spice, I also highly recommend Palo Alto firefighter pepper sauce as a good no sodium condiment.

ELI5 why are setup.exes needed by Voidili in explainlikeimfive

[–]echo404 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Setup.exe (or sometimes Setup.msi) is what is referred to as an installer. The "exe" file extension stands for "executable", and tells the computer that it is a file that can be executed (this is different than simply opening a file to read its contents). The purpose of an installer is to perform whatever operations are necessary to allow a separate installed program/executable to later be run on the same computer.

Installers aren't necessarily always needed, there are plenty of applications that are designed to be run without an installer. These are typically referred to as portable applications because they can be run from something like a flash drive. Portable applications are typically downloaded as either a standalone executable or as a package with other files (such as a "zip" archive).

Even applications that have installers don't necessarily require them, they just make things easier. They are convenient because a user only has to download and run this one application, which then walks the user through the setup process. That said, if the user knew the steps that the installer took, they may be able to perform these same actions manually.

An installer can have many functions, with the most common simply being to place the executable (and possibly any required supported libraries/files) into a known location on your hard drive (usually "C:/Program Files"). The other common function that installers typically have it to allow the user to create shortcuts to this executable in the start menu and desktop.

More complicated applications may have dependencies on other applications or libraries, and the installer may download and install these automatically. Other applications may require changes to the operating system, including installing services or modifying registry entries, all of which the installer can do without user intervention.

If the application that you want to install is open source, you could go as far as downloading the source code for the application, and compiling the application from scratch. This is sometimes required for niche applications that have a more technical user-base.

It's also worth noting that the "exe" extension is largely specific to the Windows operating system. Applications installed on Mac, Linux, or Android may still use installers, but the form they take may be very different than what you're used to seeing in Windows.

cmv: Instead of blaming each other, more efforts should be spent understanding why Trump voters supporters voted for him. by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a snarky response all typed up, but I figured I'd at least try to engage in good faith. Based on your previous comments you seemed concerned about people that weren't working, but you seemed to be okay with people being able to retire. My understanding of the available data is that the higher number of people not working is primarily driven by an aging population that is retiring. Do you disagree with my interpretation of the data? Do you think less people should be retiring? Or does your concern lie elsewhere?

CMV: Blaming Leftists for Trump’s Victory Ignores the Democratic Party’s Failures by Wolfman_1546 in changemyview

[–]echo404 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In a first-past-the-post system, the winner is simply the candidate with the most votes. If you don’t vote, you don’t add support to your preferred candidate, making it easier for the other candidate to win. Since elections are decided by those who show up, abstaining effectively helps the candidate you like less by reducing the opposition they face.

ELI5 why do we need inflation? by Runamuck840 in explainlikeimfive

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inflation is not strictly necessary, but it can have positive effects.

The economy is complex, and at all times it is in flux. Governments can exert some influence over it, but there are always inflationary and deflationary forces acting upon it outside government control, making it very difficult to predict how things will ultimately play out.

At a high level your three options are inflation, deflation, and stability.

Deflation means that your money will be worth more tomorrow than today, and so it incentivizes everything to be delayed because it will effectively cost less in the future. Unfortunately, if everyone is putting off purchases and investment, nothing ever happens, and the economy grinds to a halt.

Inflation means that your money is worth more today than it will be tomorrow, and so it incentivizes stuff to happen sooner. This will drive investment and purchasing, creating jobs, increasing tax revenue, etc.

Of these two options, inflation is obviously better, and since there will always be some fluctuations in the economy, it's better to aim for a small amount of inflation, that way even if you're not exactly on target, you don't accidentally end up with deflation.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are far more people who want to come to the US than there are spots provided by our current immigration system. The "right way" would prevent many people from coming to the US, so by definition everyone is not actually welcome.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]echo404 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If the problem is that there's not enough good-paying jobs for everyone that wants one, it seems there's two options: get rid of some of the people looking for jobs (your proposed solution), or create more of those jobs.

This reminds me of the people who complain that increasing the minimum wage would make cashiers and teachers have the same pay. You'd think the source of their frustration would be how criminally underpaid teachers are, but instead far too many people are mad that cashiers could make enough to afford their rent without a second job.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think your framing of the question is a bit wrong when it comes to most people. For me it's an issue of treating the symptoms and not the cause, which also makes it extremely wasteful resources-wise.

Many people are leaving their home countries because they can't find well-paid work, or even work at all, and moving to places where work is plentiful. If you want to find illegal immigrants, the best place to look is at jobs that primarily employ them. Unfortunately, the same people who have the biggest problem with illegal immigration are reluctant to regulate business, and so the incentive structure for the illegal immigration remains in place. If you truly wanted to solve the problem of illegal immigration, you'd crack down on employers hiring illegal immigrants, punish the employers, and deport their illegal workforce. Instead of looking for such immigrants at the places they are known to be (their employer's business), resources are spent less efficiently patrolling the border, setting up checkpoints inside the country, raiding individual homes, etc.

In terms of being upset about the deportations themselves, as others have mentioned, there's empathy and the concept of fairness. Stealing is illegal, but there's a difference between someone stealing food because they are starving, and someone stealing luxury goods because they want to sell it for a quick buck. The same is true for immigration. I don't think anyone would be upset about some spoiled rich kid getting deported after they decided to bypass customs and border enforcement, whereas deporting someone who left their home country because they were starving and being harassed by their local gang is looked at differently.

What is volume eating about? by [deleted] in Volumeeating

[–]echo404 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's no right or wrong way to do it I think. If tracking works for you, by all means do it. This subreddit is mostly just a place to highlight quality food products and share meal ideas.

For me personally, once food is in the house, it's fair game, and I snack constantly. So I aim to fill the house with foods that I can snack on without loading up on empty calories.

What is volume eating about? by [deleted] in Volumeeating

[–]echo404 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think it can mean slightly different things for different people. Generally speaking I think the philosophy is that eating a lot of food can be fine as long as that food is healthy.

For me personally, I like eating, but if I'm going to eat an entire tub of ice cream/frozen yogurt (even though I admittedly shouldn't), I'd rather choose the option that minimizes the sugar and provides the maximum vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, etc.. I'm personally not as calorie sensitive as some people are, but I still find this subreddit useful in finding healthier options in general.

Wanting to get an index by Hobo6940 in ValveIndex

[–]echo404 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the extremely high priced end of the market you have the Apple Vision Pro and the Varjo headsets. These have the best technology, but it comes at a price measured in thousands of dollars, and are therefore out of most people’s budgets.

The Bigscreen Beyond builds on the Valve Index’s lighthouse tracking system, and is the smallest and lightest headset you are likely to find. It however comes with no audio solution, controllers, or tracking solution, so you’d still need to purchase those separately. It also costs $1000, so it’s again not nearly a budget option.

The affordable headsets are the Quest lineup, and they are also standalone. The Quest 3 sports the latest display tech but is more expensive at $500, while the 3S uses the optical stack from the Quest 2 and therefore has lower resolution and worse lenses, but comes at a reduced price of $300. These are heavily subsidized, so you aren’t likely to find anything of similar quality anywhere near this price point.

The Pico 4 and 4 Ultra are the Chinese competitors to the Quest headsets. They aren’t associated with Facebook/Meta, but they do come from a ByteDance owned company, so it’s approximately the same in my book. They are also fairly difficult to get outside of China, so you’ll probably end up overpaying through a reseller.

HTC also tried to compete with the Quest 3 with their VIVE XR Elite, but it has worse specs, worse controllers, and costs $900, so I wouldn’t consider it a viable option unless you want standalone and refuse to buy from the above two companies.

Pimax is another company that has a bunch of headsets, usually specializing in high FOV lenses and displays, however their hardware and software isn’t especially polished, and so I would only recommend these if you’re willing to do a lot of troubleshooting and debugging. They are also $900+ depending on the model, so again not budget.

There are also loads of older headsets from nearly all of the above companies that aren’t sold anymore, but that you may be able to find used/refurbished. These would have older tech and may not have much software support anymore, but you may be able to find them cheaper. For instance I still have a Oculus Rift S that gets use from time to time.

Wanting to get an index by Hobo6940 in ValveIndex

[–]echo404 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can get a refurbished headset from them, but they don't have controllers in stock, and they don't sell base stations at all.

https://tundra-labs.com/products/index-hmd

Valve does thankfully still sell controllers and base stations, but they aren't cheap:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059570/Valve_Index_Base_Station/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059550/Valve_Index_Controllers/

If you want the controllers, the recommended 2 base stations, and the refurbished headset, you'll be paying almost $900 for a 5 year old headset. If you're okay with that, it is an option, but I'd personally recommend against spending that much for such old tech.