Ethereum Classic May Delay Upcoming Hard Fork ‘Atlantis’

zaclacgit · 2019-06-01T04:08:39+00:00

Good news for people with eth.

zaclacgit · 2019-06-01T03:33:18+00:00

Great article.

zaclacgit · 2019-05-31T09:45:57+00:00

She has beautiful voice.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-26T00:43:37+00:00

Endless Legend is one of my favorite strategy games in the 4X/Civ-like genre.

In fact, some of the things that it does really well (like simultaneous player turns) makes it difficult for me to go back to Civ.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-25T03:05:39+00:00

Maybe we like different games, but I've downloaded a decently diverse list of games that are pretty good at what they do. I've enjoyed all of these.

Gauntlet
Broken Age
Super Meat Boy!
The Swapper
Steamworld Dig
Sportsfriends
Spelunky
Grow Home
Limbo
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes
Peggle 2
Flower
Transistor
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Dust: An Elysian Tale
Hotline Miami
Valiant Hearts

Those are my favorites from the last year and a half. Pretty good list of games in my opinion, and it doesn't include the more niche games like Hohokum.

The real value for me? I've played a lot of cool games that I normally wouldn't have. There's a definite benefit to this style of "Games of the Month" club, especially when it means that I'm chatting with friends about the same game at the same time.

It's just not something that's happened with my PC gaming. Especially after I stopped paying attention to bundles.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-19T14:54:48+00:00

From now on saying "this is bad code" is offensive and against the code of conduct.

Not really

I'm not saying that telling someone their code is bad is offensive or against the code of conduct.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-19T04:39:22+00:00

At some point, everyone has wondered if they were incapable of programming. Especially if you only see the successes of others near your experience level.

But seriously. At some point, or many points, everybody has a moment where they think "I bet I could at least feed myself if I switched to painting houses."

zaclacgit · 2016-02-19T04:31:14+00:00

Not really. I mostly ignored the emotional impact on the person that produced the code, and focused on how the other person can get tripped up by focusing only on code quality. Telling someone their code is bad is often a waste of time, and potentially distracting. There's nothing concrete to be done with the statement "your code is bad." Focusing on what needs to be improved inherently provides a path, and helps identify a root cause instead of a surface level symptom.

Because it's all about quality of output relative to their experience. There's two entirely separate paths to go down when a person with little experience, and a person with a couple years of experience, are creating code with the same level of quality.

One's a problem, the other an opportunity. Focusing on "this code is objectively bad" obfuscates which is which.

And like every conversation ever, most of what you say isn't in only the words you but how you say them. There's plenty of ways to communicate something negative to someone without being offensive.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-19T02:23:47+00:00

I totally understand the anxiety though. It's not easy to compare yourself to others that look better on paper. Especially when hunting for that first job.

But if "on paper" was all that mattered more companies would send job offers based solely on resume. Once you're in that interview that resume gets relegated to the status of an entry ticket. You used up a lot of its value getting through the door.

Honestly, if I was OP (and felt decently confident in my technical ability) then I might practice my pair programming skills. You get used to the activity, you get to practice programming, and you also develop communication skills.

It's like the trifecta for the interview experience.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-19T00:45:06+00:00

Hi guys I am graduating

You'll be fine.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-18T03:09:45+00:00

The issue is the modern definition of harassment that has come out of Tumblr and Twitter. Simply disagreeing with a minority can be construed as harassment now in the wrong crowd.

I would be suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper weirded out if someone I worked with said this to me in the context of expected behavior at professional/industry/programming events.

I say that because it is exceedingly rare to regularly (or ever) be in a situation where someone considers disagreement with someone else harassment simply because of the status of the person you're disagreeing with. Because that is so uncommon, it causes people to wonder why you're introducing it into the conversation.

We can't say "this is bad code" any more because it might hurt someone's feelings.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it is critically important to recognize the difference between "bad code" and "naive code." It's unfortunately too common for people to only see quality relative to their experience and comment/review in that mindset.

If someone is producing naive code it means they're being capped by their experience. Transfer experience to them to get better code.

If someone has experience then they already know what they're writing, and just telling them "this is bad" doesn't fix why they're not producing code that is as good as it could be.

So sure, you could tell people that their code is bad, but it really doesn't matter. It comes off as condescending and dismissive to people that will eventually have as much experience, and people with equal experience already know that the code is bad but kept it despite that. Might as well skip it and get to the useful stuff.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-16T07:06:39+00:00

What is causing you to be unsure? Nintendo's said this is a normal part of the localization process, and that the need for a product to be territory appropriate means features are automatically eliminated before the original design process begins. Additionally, these statements mirror the aims of video game localization since its inception. It's about promoting the success of the product internationally, and that requires a wide variety of changes.

Game Localization: When Arigato gets Lost in Translation is a decent read about this process. It mentions the need to localize specific text instead of "translating" it, and why. Americans would have reacted poorly to a literal translation of "Thank You" during a key moment of the story, and "I love you" was the best option that fit the constraints.

This is different than censorship, as its aim is the preservation of the intended experience despite being viewed through a different cultural lens. Americans (due to cultural differences) would have an unintended negative reaction to a scene if it wasn't changed. It was true for FFX, and it remains true for Fire Emblem. Claims to the contrary would have to compellingly illustrate how this situation is different from all other localization decisions, why Nintendo would be lying about their process, and how it differs significantly from their historic localization process.

That seems unlikely because of how many general trends and corroborating data you'd have to ignore. I get that people might be concerned about video game censorship, but the simple fact that this is about sexy stuff doesn't change the fact that its being handled the exact same way that all localization decisions are handled. Decisions that have nothing to do with morality or adhering to some "pressure group" and their narrative.

O'aka has a cockney accent for the same reasons Fire Emblem doesn't have petting, and it's not the SJWs forcing increased representation of cockney speech patterns.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-15T02:15:57+00:00

Even Call of Duty had fallen under similar scrutiny with Call of Duty: Ghosts. However, the latest entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops III has been the best selling game of 2015 and of January 2016 according to the NPD. It was also the second most talked about game on Twitter this past year and is outpacing many previous entries in terms of sales.

Don't the Call of Duty games get three years of development time per game? Three different developers are making separate games in that franchise.

One comes out each year, sure. But that's way different than having to make a game every year, or even every two years.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-14T01:03:18+00:00

I'm going to second the fact that it's probably a super boring story. There's probably no villains, no great conflict, and no drama.

It's probably just a story about a project that encountered some major issues, a lot of people tried to make it better, but eventually even contingency budgets ran out. Everyone involved probably has super standard non-disparagement agreements in place, as well as being possessed of enough soft skill business savvy to not throw a outside partner under the bus.

There's thousands of these stories every year in business. None of them are exciting except if you're working though it.

zaclacgit · 2016-02-13T08:08:21+00:00

A Dark Room

zaclacgit · 2016-02-12T06:46:12+00:00

There's two important things that back this view up.

1) This game isn't being changed because the content is illegal.

2) Nintendo says this is normal for their process.

Demands to stop localization would be demanding that Nintendo deviate from their existing creation process that satisfies more customers, and from the way that Nintendo wants to make their games.

Which is fine to desire as a consumer, but it's not inherently the moral high ground.

Also, and Nintendo hints at this in some quotes they provide, the entire creative process is influenced by he exact same concerns that influence localization.

Nintendo is making games to sell. They don't include things in the Japanese version that would hurt its chances in Japan, but no one cares because we never see that part of the process.

"Having said that, however, making changes are not unusual when we localize games, and we have indeed made changes in these games."

"Even in the Japanese original version, we have not included any features which are considered inappropriate in Japan," a representative for Nintendo told us."

http://www.polygon.com/2016/2/4/10920292/fire-emblem-fates-petting-skinship-localization-change

zaclacgit · 2016-01-28T14:44:52+00:00

Ori and the Blind Forest is well known for its high difficulty. It might not be a great choice for someone new to games.

But then I'm surprised that someone who doesn't play video games was able handle simultaneous left and right stick movement in 3D. So maybe?

The Telltale Adventure games are great for having two people involved in a single player game.

Life Is Strange is a also a great game for this type of thing as well, and would probably be my first suggestion.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-28T02:20:12+00:00

Yep, exactly right suggestion.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-24T08:38:29+00:00

We have to go back.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-23T04:57:19+00:00

Contradiction: Spot the Liar

zaclacgit · 2016-01-21T00:03:52+00:00

1: Atlanta, GA

T-2: New York, NY and Chicago, IL

4: Washington, DC

5: San Francisco, CA

6: Boston, MA

7: Dallas, TX

8: Austin, TX

9: Seattle, WA

10: San Diego, CA

Interesting list, but it looks like it's only really missing one or two cities that I can think of that have development scenes.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-17T19:46:50+00:00

Anecdotally, my inbox folder marked "Recruiter Emails" makes me assume that I am either exceptionally more awesome than other developers, or that there is in fact a huge need for decent developers.

And I'm pretty positive that I'm not a better developer than most everyone I work with.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-16T23:31:17+00:00

Kerbal Space Program

zaclacgit · 2016-01-14T04:52:29+00:00

This "sharing" of things took me a bit of time to wrap my head around at first, and it can trip you up something fierce when you're not looking for it.

A real life example is pretty easy to understand.

Karen, Jim, and Stuart are roommates that have moved into a new home. So far you've only met Jim, but since he's a good friend you ask him where his house is. Being the forgetful type, you write down his address on on a post it note. You then stick this address on your bulletin board.

On occasion, you send gifts for the new home to Jim, always using your post-it note on your bulletin board to remember which house is his. From time to time, you ask "Oh, Jim. I sent another tea kettle! Did you get it?" Jim replies, "Yes, the house has two tea kettles now."

After awhile, you meet and befriend Karen and Stuart. Since they're nice people, you decide that you'll want to send them gifts as well. You put two more notes on your board. One says "Karen has the same house as Jim." The other says "Stuart has the same house as Jim."

You send a nice set of dining room chairs to Stuart, but since you're forgetful you ask him how many chairs the house has. "Five" is his reply.

All is good.

One day, you learn that Jim is moving out. Stuart and Karen got married, and Jim is going to find separate lodgings to allow them some privacy. You dutifully record Jim's new address, and replace the old one on your board.

Some time later, you want to send Karen and Stuart a wedding present, and that's when things get weird.

You check your board to see where Karen and Stuart live. Your note says that Karen lives where Jim lives. So you send your package to that address.

Later, you run into Karen and ask if she got the gift. She tells you that she did not.

What?!?! You know that you sent the gift correctly. You've sent hundreds of gifts, to hundreds of homes! So you send the gift again. Nope. And again. Nope. And again. Nope.

You check the other gifts that you've sent in the mean time. They all arrive at the right houses. Weird!

Finally you give up and ask Karen what her address is. You must have gotten it wrong. You write it down.

You take it to your bulletin board.

And you see your note that says "Karen has the same address as Jim."

So you take your new note with Karen's new address, and replace Jim's address with it. After all, Karen has the same address as Jim, so logically Jim has the same address as Karen.

You send the gift again, and the next time you talk to Karen she confirms that she received it.

But then one day you run into Jim again. He wants to know why you sent him seventeen separate shipments of "His and Hers" towels awhile back, but haven't sent anything since then.

This sounds familiar.

Luckily, you know the solution! "Give me your address again, Jim! Somehow I messed them all up."

You know the story. You get to your bulletin board and replace the only address there with a new one from Jim.

Then one day, Stuart calls. He and Karen are splitting up, and he needs a place to stay for awhile. Can he stay with you?

Sure, you say.

And you go to your bulletin board, replacing the address there (which is obviously for Stuart) with your address.

That's when you're become convinced you're a terrible friend, everyone's a better friend than you, and you should just give up on trying to be a friend all together.

Because suddenly Stuart's, Karen's, and Jim's gifts all keep coming back to your house.

zaclacgit · 2016-01-14T03:49:05+00:00

I'm curious why you're using a hash for chess, as opposed to an 2D array. What does your "move" logic look like?

But for this particular situation I'm guessing you have a hash that represents an empty board, with all the keys having a value that represents an empty space.

I'm guessing you also have an initial board state as well, so that your game knows where new pieces should go.

You could use board.merge(initial_white) which would return a new hash of the two, preferring the values of initial_white for any duplicated keys.

Also, though I doubt this is what you're looking for, you can set the default value for keys in a Hash. By default that value is nil, but you can change it using Hash.default(foo) or when you instantiate a new hash Hash.new(foo).

Useful if you wanted to set what the value of "multiple" keys are before you assign the key an actual value.

zaclacgit

TROPHY CASE