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Cake day: October 30th, 2023

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  • Different operating systems have their own interfaces to allow user level programs (like games) to communicate with hardware. This is a great-over-simplification, but one OS may understand something like “drawTriangle(x, y, z)” while another may expect “drawPolygon([x, y, z])”.

    There are software projects to attempt to translate commands meant for one OS for a different OS (such as “Wine” or Valve’s “Proton”) and those work fairly well in cases that: 1) there’s an analogous command, 2) the analogous commands have been accurately mapped, and 3) the analogous commands operate in user space.

    That last point is the primary reason why, despite the best efforts of developers, some games still cannot work across OSs. Operating systems are built on top of different levels with the lowest being the “kernel” (of “kernel level anti-cheat” notoriety) and the highest being the user space (where you interact). Both Windows and Linux have these, but the boundaries around them, what they can and cannot do, and how to interact across those boundaries differs between each system.

    So when a Windows game installs a driver to monitor everything that your computer does that driver (kernel level anti-cheat) is tailored very specifically to the extremely powerful, low level, and unique Windows kernel. Linux cannot run that natively. If the game pretends that spying on you is an essential component to launch then the game will not launch. If, however, a game is perfectly happy to just stay in user space where it belongs then it will probably work fine with the available translation layers.


  • Class war is war.

    The US has literally bombed its citizens on 2 occasions because of class resistance. The military has literally taken up arms against the citizens it swore to protect over class differences. We describe violent clashes between workers and the bourgeoisie as “battles.”

    Just because we’ve experienced a period of unprecedented peace doesn’t mean class conflict is over–it will not be over until class is abolished.

    Also, revolutions, civil war, and war in general are most often illegal.


  • The state has convicted and executed innocent people. The average criminal subject to capital punishment has killed an order (or several) of magnitudes fewer people than the health insurance industry.

    As a country we seem to weigh more heavily acts of individual violence than those of systemic violence or violence borne of policy even when the latter 2 have far more impactful and wide spread negative results. It’s completely logical to draw a distinction between the 2 circumstances.

    I’m not saying all vigilante justice is good, and I wouldn’t necessarily be against the state holding to account executives who have produced systems and policies that result in the harm or death of the state’s citizens, but in the current system justice is rare and in this act millions of people received justice.




  • Yes, if you have the means.

    I work with a mutual aid group that engages in street outreach. I experience a lot of different cases and pretty much all of them would be benefitted by having more money.

    Some people have a job, but not a home, and are trying to get housed

    Some people have a home, but not a job and are trying to stay housed

    Some people have neither and are trying to stay alive

    Some people have both, but are so underpaid for the area they are in and are trying to stay housed

    Some people are migrants and it is 100% illegal for them to work in the US and their only source of aid is through asking the community

    Not one of them enjoys the situation they are in nor has made an explicit choice to be or stay homeless.

    A lot of people who panhandle stay in encampments. These provide a small community with a lot of support structures for those there. There’s often someone who knows how to cook anything with any source of heat, someone who knows how to treat wounds, someone who knows what each person in the camp needs, and someone who’s plugged into the broader community and can get things for those who can’t (not all food pantries or lines are accommodating for wheelchair users and those with mobility issues can have trouble waiting for hours for food or even getting there). My point being that even if your contribution doesn’t help the person asking directly, it likely helps someone they know.

    And if you’re worried about the whole “they’ll just spend it on drugs” thing, I honestly wouldn’t. Among the people I work with maybe 1/3 of them use drugs and very very few use anything other than weed. Employed and housed people use weed to unwind, why is it so much more evil if you don’t have a house? And if you’re working with the 2/3 of people that don’t use drugs than it’s not really a concern. I do realize that those numbers might be vastly different in areas that were more harshly hit by opioid issues.









  • I pulled up to a crossroad, stopped at the stop sign, and waited for the 2 vehicles on the main road to pass. Another car pulled up across from me and came to a complete stop at their stop sign, they waited for a moment, then started to go. They looked again, saw the other vehicles coming, stopped (not yet in the main road), then started to proceed again. They stopped again (this time in the main road). They started to go again and got hit by the first vehicle on the main road. The next vehicle on the main road was an ambulance who saw the whole thing and stopped.

    Honestly not sure why you would stop at a sign, see traffic coming then go and stop multiple times if you weren’t on something or trying for some fraud.





  • I love mine. I bought one as soon as they went on sale and it has completely replaced my gaming laptop when I travel. What I like most of all is that it makes it easy for me to play games in my backlog that I would not otherwise have plaid. I have almost 900 games in my library and it’s opened up my playtime in platformers, casual story games, puzzle games, racing, space sims, and more. The fact that I can do that on a plane or wherever on holiday is awesome. I have no doubt that there are games in my library it can’t play, but I’ve not actually tried to play a game on it that just didn’t work.

    If you aren’t a gamer I don’t know how much value there is for you. If you want to become a gamer it’s a well balanced device with a solid store behind it and your library will be accessible by any PC you buy in the future. If you are considering it as a gift for a gamer, just keep in mind if they aren’t primarily a PC gamer (that is to say they play on a console) they will have to rebuy some games if they want to play on the deck.

    As far as being a full laptop replacement, I wouldn’t bother.


  • unmagical@lemmy.mltoMemes@lemmy.mlThanks dad
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    4 months ago

    Well, I try to understand why something is included. I’ve run arch for years (BTW), though my current computers are running Fedora and Debian. I won’t say I know everything about Linux or even installing it or booting it, but I do know more than I would if I just followed step by step.