|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 5, 2020 12:08:38 GMT -5
Ugh, I'm growing more and more desirous of a dog. I want something to do something with. Cats aren't exactly great at leaving the house.
I think if I had to remain locked in the house for another year, maybe I would get one. Doesn't make sense if it's for another few months and that's it, though...
Also, I LOVE pugs. But pugs can't, you know, breathe, so I'm not sure how good they are at doing stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 5, 2020 13:26:38 GMT -5
I think if I have to express my love of pugs, I also need to express my strong dislike of hairy small dogs.
Bijon frises? Toy poodles? They're gross and I don't like them and I don't want to touch them. I like absolutely nothing about them.
I'm not really a fan of poodles in general, TBH. They seem to be all the rage nowadays because they're hypoallergenic, but, I dunno, they just don't do anything for me. If I got a large dog, I'd get something like an Australian Shepherd Dog. Those are cool.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 5, 2020 14:26:45 GMT -5
Oh man, I'm trying to set my chat app up with the ability to take photos.
It'll be simple, I said.
Yeah, simple if you're doing it on your phone, where you can connect with the native camera tooling.
I'm using the computer webcam. So tough cookies for me! I've gotta: 1) Create a modal that displays a live video stream of you 2) Enable the user to take a photo at a particular time 3) Hide the video stream once the user has taken the photo 4) Display the photo so the user can accept it or retake 5) Store the photo if the user is ok with it, otherwise bring the video stream back
so complicated, man.
|
|
Derman
Oracle Knight
I still don't have a knife tag on my golden birth knife
Posts: 194
|
Post by Derman on Dec 6, 2020 7:21:23 GMT -5
Making things from scratch is a great way to learn to appreciate what really goes into making things that sound simple. I still start coding a lot of things myself before I realize there's probably a library that does it for me. Sometimes I stick with my own implementation, and I almost always regret it because it ends up being not so simple after all.
My parents have a Goldendoodle, which I think is a mix of poodle and golden retriever. A very friendly and chill dog. If I had to get a dog, I wouldn't want to get one that needs constant action. I know someone who has a husky, and seems like they never run out of energy.
I'm taking an exam on a course I did (but failed) a year ago. I registered for the exam only, because I figured I could just study the materials I got last year by myself. Except yesterday I found out the course has been reworked this year. So I've been studying outdated materials for two weeks, and now I've got less than 2 days to go through the new content. Thankfully it seems that the new stuff is things I already know, so it's not going to be a huge issue.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 6, 2020 13:21:06 GMT -5
Yeah, I think it gives me a lot of appreciation for UIs. It's not like the sequence I described is complex for the user--hell, I didn't even think about the complexity at first, as someone who has uploaded photos thousands of times--but in reality, there are a lot of little steps you have to build. Non-American colleges are interesting when it comes to exams. If you failed a class here, you can't just sign up for the exam. Gotta sign up for the entire course all over (and any work that comes with it). NGL, I'm glad I don't have to contend with exams anymore. The stress is pretty awful. Good luck on your exam! What course is it for? Read this article the other day, and in scanning the comments, seems like people seem to favor essential workers. Interesting how broad essential workers are considered to be. I understand the argument that essential workers (those that are truly essential) do not have a choice in staying home, necessarily. However, I think it is more prudent to vaccinate old people over workers, because 1) the former is a smaller group than the latter, and 2) a 20-year-old essential worker is simply not at the same risk as someone who is 70. It will take time to reduce spread enough to relieve pressure on hospitals; in the meantime, the best thing you can do is to reduce ICU capacity and deaths by vaccinating people who are most at risk for adverse events. I'm not sure I really buy into the "minorities are more likely to be essential workers, and we should protect minorities" line of argument. If vaccinating a particular group makes the biggest dent, great, let's do that, but otherwise this is not the time or place to right perceived wrongs. Someone in the article argues against vaccinating old people because they're more likely to be white. ...So? I didn't realize we were vaccinating people just on merit of race. That's sort of racism, isn't it? I don't think minorities are really necessarily more likely to be inherently more susceptible to COVID. I think poor people are more likely to be susceptible to COVID. Minorities tend to be poor. I don't think vaccination should be a racial social justice issue or an opportunity to right historical wrongs. I think it should be "how do we get society back to normal for everyone" issue. If vaccinating all black people first gets that done, great, if it involves vaccinating old people, great, I don't really care how it gets done. I’m also unimpressed with the argument to vaccinate teachers first. That won’t speed children’s return to school in practice, because children and their families won’t be vaccinated. The reason there is remote schooling isn’t JUST because of teacher health... people are scared to send their kids because they think their kids will get it (or spread it to the family). Noteworthy that France is electing to vaccinate old people first. Also noteworthy that France apparently has the highest rate of vaccine skepticism of modern countries. Sixty percent of French people aren't interested in taking the vaccine (the US is 40%). I have no hesitation about the vaccine. I'd take it right now if I was offered it, and then I'd go back to my normal life. If you don't want to take a vaccine when it's available, I politely say f**k you and stay home. It's so godd*mn bizarre to me. People say the effects of the vaccine are unknown, or what about the side effects. Well, okay, maybe there are some side effects, but the rate is going to be WAY smaller than, I dunno, getting COVID? Other people claim it's "rushed". Gonna blame the government for poor PR on that one. Why has the vaccine been developed so quickly? Because: 1. Normal vaccines take years to recruit participants and wait for those participants to be possibly infected by a low-incidence virus. Normal vaccine trials don't have the luxury of, you know, a pandemic infecting all of the participants 2. EVERYONE is throwing all of their resources at this. Governments are subsidizing the cost of research; pharma companies are making the vaccine a priority. Turns out when you make something a priority, sh*t tends to go faster! 3. The government is making it a priority to review results. Usually, when a treatment is submitted to the FDA, it's gotta wait in line behind other treatments, government takes its time, bureaucratic lost time, etc, etc. This is sort of the government's priority right now, so vaccines get to jump to the front of the line and unnecessarily wait times are thrown out the window. Yet still people say, oh, well, the fastest any vaccine has been developed is 4 years. And? Are you proposing we just hang out in our houses for the next 4 years, just because that's the previous record? f**k that. I have a life to live. If there's anything I've learned from the pandemic, it's confirming that people are really, really, really bad at statistics.
|
|
Derman
Oracle Knight
I still don't have a knife tag on my golden birth knife
Posts: 194
|
Post by Derman on Dec 6, 2020 14:22:27 GMT -5
The course was "Electrical Measurement Principles". Very surface-level course, which I should've by all logic passed years ago, but somehow managed to mess up the exam by being overconfident and not studying enough. 100% agree. I've seen so much dumb stuff the past year I never thought people would actually believe. I think Finland is currently approaching the vaccinations as: people in risk groups first, then healthcare workers, then people who can't afford to stay home (so the rest of the "essential" workers) and then the rest. Which I think is a fine.
The whole minority thing doesn't make much sense to me, because like you said, it's not the place where you should start trying to make those things right. The decision should primarily be about stopping the virus. The fact that the idea was even brought up is a bit worrying when it comes to distributing the vaccines in a way that would bring the society back up.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 6, 2020 15:24:35 GMT -5
Well, at least it's an easy course.
I think Finland's approach makes sense. The option I see bandied about most often (which will vary by state) is healthcare workers, then nursing home workers and nursing home residents, then essential workers, and then old people and people at risk due to other conditions, and then everyone else. Basically, even if you're 80 and not i a nursing home, you won't get it before, say, a police officer would. Seems strange.
I decided to stay home today in lieu of doing anything outdoors to work on my app. I have to say, I missed a step in what I outlined. I want the modal to pop up in a specific location. Soo apparently that is not as simple as I thought, either. It's made all the more complex by the fact that I'm using a language/framework that compiles into Javascript and React. So first I have to look up how to do it in React, then translate it into ClojureScript. Mind you, I don't know React at all. So in come multiple failure points: 1) did I misunderstand at the HTML/CSS level, 2) did I misunderstand at the React level, and 3) did I misunderstand at the ClojureScript level.
I think I would be better served by actually reading documentation from start to end rather than googling things piecemeal, but who got time for dat.
|
|
|
Post by Umbra on Dec 6, 2020 22:49:51 GMT -5
Sometimes living in possibly the most liberal city in the world makes me question my sanity. BLM. Transgenderism. The wage gap. The patriarchy. Socialism. I have a strong opinion on all of these explosive areas of conversation but I feel like I have to hold back with sharing my beliefs on Facebook because I've already receive a count of (1) ad hominem directed at me...And people tell you to "Be Yourself." What happens if I show my true colors then, I wonder? Or would it be better to take the Japanese approach and "preserve the harmony." Hmm.
|
|
|
Post by Friendly Person :) on Dec 7, 2020 1:28:47 GMT -5
Remember a while back when I mentioned that I think endings are more important than beginnings? Well, I want to revisit that idea, but in a different context: music (shocking, right?). Now I want to say right away that my standard thesis does not apply here: music is consumed and discarded so rapidly that I absolutely appreciate the necessity of a strong opener. 100%, that should be where you focus most of your effort. HOWEVER, I think when you go beyond the initial “getting someone to listen to this”, the final song is generally underappreciated.
Part of this is, as I mentioned earlier, due to the way we consume music. Due to the common-place view of music as a commodity, albums are rarely structured to be consumed as a whole. Generally an “album” is nothing more than a collection of songs arranged by some order of perceived quality (with the hits being levied towards the beginning, hence why nearly every album has their single within the first 3 songs). However one of the things I enjoy about the proggier side of metal is the consideration to the consumption of the album as a whole. Something I’d never thought about (the impact of the final song) has now been brought to the forefront of my attention, mostly when I’m reflecting on a lot of the music I’ve gathered.
See, while the first few songs are definitely important to getting my attention, the last song (particularly the finale of the last song) is actually the greatest factor in retaining it. Very few albums can maintain my attention for a full 40-75 minutes (the length of most of these albums), especially not on a first listen. Generally I’m on board at the start, then start to lose focus after the first three songs (gee, I wonder why all the singles go there?). The thing is, if I reach the end of the album without ever having my interest grabbed again, generally my impression is one of mediocrity. On the flip side, when I consider the albums that have really stuck with me, part of that is due to the finale.
Consider Black Crown Initiate’s Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape. The final song is nothing more than a melancholic rendition of the first song’s primary refrain. At two minutes, it’s barely a song. However, every time I heard it, it reminded me how great the first song was. I’d end my listening session with that stuck in my head, and soon enough I wanted to revisit the whole thing again. Over time it became my third favourite album. Of course, I’d be remiss if I left it at simply a musical point: lyrically it’s a fantastic conclusion as well. The album is about the cycle of domestic violence -- musically slow moments transition suddenly into violent outbursts -- and the final song laments that the cycle begins once more:
Now lord and light, he'll atone for everything And his loathing must be for everything He'll choose a path to the ache of everything He is the path to the end of everything
While the intro is what catches my attention, the ending is what keeps it fresh in my mind. Rivers of Nihil pulls something similar in Where Owls Know My Name, though in this instance the opening song is a mere prologue:
Fear, fear drowns the mind In this kingdom of mine And standing in the hall; the faces of them all Real, like empty space They know what I became
And the finale is actually a full fledged, 8 minute long song. The final song begins the same way as the first, culminating in the death of the main character as well as the planet itself:
When the sun doesn't rise And the hope of light fades Rest these eyes for a while I'll see your face
I can’t understate how much these two endings really stick with me. Persefone are also masters at doing this, with nearly all of their albums ending on sombre reflections or repetitions of opening themes. However, this is not the only way to have a powerful ending. In fact, my hands-down favourite is Alustrium’s A Tunnel to Eden. The final three songs are a 31 minute journey through an entire life. Thus, come the end, it would have been entirely understandable had they opted to go with a sombre approach to death ala Owls (excepting Owls came out three years later), but they did not. In an album bursting with impotent rage at the unfairness of life and the social structures which restrain us all, the final verses of “The Illusion of Choice III: Thantos” explode out, embracing not only the fury of these final three songs, but of the album as a whole. It takes a slower, more reflective mental state:
As I’ve continued to grow I’ve noticed With one blink of an eye What was abundant now absent And it’s impossible to stay in one state With each passing second The present era the past
Transitioning into contemplation of death:
Grow no more Terminate It is time Begin Decay
Which then bursts with fervor as the moment arrives:
This is the end Pack all your things Say your goodbyes And evacuate
I get chills every time. But that’s really the thing: when I finish an album with a stellar ending, I find myself in a reflective state of mind similar to how I feel after watching a good movie or reading a good book. The album feels less like a bundle of random songs and more like embarking on a journey. The purpose of the final song is to encompass, in some way, the journey as a whole. Obsidian Tide’s Pillars of Creation begins with the establishment of order, and after a journey of disorder ends with assertion that order is, and always will be, reestablished:
I will vow, this Bound by the abyss As the azure is reborn Reshaped in bliss
We will keep watch Endlessly All you see Relit again Empyrean
It’s the type of ending that makes me stop and think. I actually feel things not just in the moment of listening, but lingering thoughts which keep me coming back for more. I can think of several albums that have kick-ass beginnings. I can think of few that have equally as kick-ass endings. And trust me, I get it: I’m in the minority who enjoys taking an album as a whole. If the plebs on Discord are anything to go by (before I purged my friends list and a bunch of servers), the general approach is to make a playlist full of random crap and put it on shuffle (or if it just has a default shuffle? Idk, I’ve never used spotify). Thinking about an album as a whole is, from a commercial perspective, a complete waste of money. Hell, according to the head of Spotify, albums as a whole are dated (I hate that man so much). Maybe they’re right. But for the fans who are willing to stick around to the end, I believe there’s no better way to cement your album in their minds than with a killer ending.
P.S. This was my first long-form writing in months. Sorry if it’s rough around the edges.
P.P.S. It seemed silly to be posting lyrics when my whole point is that the ending is meant to encompass the entire album, but it felt more weird to be throwing out examples without citations.
|
|
Derman
Oracle Knight
I still don't have a knife tag on my golden birth knife
Posts: 194
|
Post by Derman on Dec 9, 2020 8:35:06 GMT -5
I got a 0,01€ bill from my ISP... I kinda want to just not pay it, and see how far they are willing to escalate it so they can get their .01.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 9, 2020 10:10:47 GMT -5
AWS sent me a bill for 3 cents before. I had the same temptation, because it was such a nominal amount. They harassed me for quite a long time. Months, in fact. Eventually I did pay it after the shutting down of my EC2 instance became imminent, but I was surprised by how long they "gently" reminded me before telling me they would just shut it off.
Those were the days. Now my AWS bill is like $42 a month...
As for albums, I'm guessing the work you're evaluating must be older, since I wonder how many artists put thought into their album's song order nowadays? I can think of a few albums that clearly put care into song order (Green Day's American Idiot, Pink Floyd's the Wall, The Who's Tommy), but I think those are the minority.
I'll admit, my Spotify is literally just one big playlist of songs I like. There are very few artists I like enough to go and listen to an entire album of. Most artists sound too similar for me to want to listen to several songs of theirs consecutively. A hallmark of whether I like a band, as opposed to liking a band's song, is whether I can enjoy listening to an entire album of theirs. This is pretty rare.
I guess the death of the album on Spotify is a bit of a shame, since it's harder to get a sense of a band's growth over time or album themes if it's all just jumbled together. I don't think the Beatles feel as impressive if you just listen to a random assortment of their songs. If you listen to them album by album, you really get a sense of the "theme" for that album, as well as their musical growth over time. "Please Please Me" is a VERY different album from "Rubber Soul", which is a very different album from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which is different still from "The White Album." They went from being a generic pop band, to writing their own songs, to playing with musical instruments and approaches no one else had done, to diverging from writing as a band to individual song writers with very different styles that foreshadowed their eventual split. You miss ALL of that if you just listen to a song here or there.
|
|
Derman
Oracle Knight
I still don't have a knife tag on my golden birth knife
Posts: 194
|
Post by Derman on Dec 9, 2020 10:41:54 GMT -5
$42/month sounds really expensive. I've used DigitalOcean a few times for some small things like that one simple Discord bot I made, and for 40€/month you get a pretty decent machine (at least for a server). Is AWS really just that expensive, or do you have something more demanding running there? I'll be honest, I have no clue what the resource requirements for running a website would generally be, so if you have that website still up I guess that would explain it.
Also, ended up paying off that bill. I didn't quite figure out why they were sending it in the first place (maybe I had paid 1 cent too little at some point) but even if it was some sort of mistake 1 cent is not a huge loss.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 9, 2020 10:55:41 GMT -5
I have... - A site using postgres + Elastic Beanstalk (load balancer, EC2, etc.) - A site using AWS Lambda instance + SNS - A site using Lightsail
I think my costs really went up with SNS and the Lightsail app... I could cut costs by killing the first site since I don't use it (jonsnowisdumb.com). Making any updates would require touching Rails again, which I have absolutely no desire to do.
|
|
Derman
Oracle Knight
I still don't have a knife tag on my golden birth knife
Posts: 194
|
Post by Derman on Dec 9, 2020 13:04:27 GMT -5
That explains the high costs.
Usually I've only needed a linux server with an IP and SSH access so I can run my stuff there. So I've always found all the AWS services too intimidating, because I don't have much clue what they should be used for. Also, I'm really paranoid about accidentally leaving stuff running and it eating away my credits, so I only use the services for as long as I need them, and then shut them down.
|
|
|
Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 9, 2020 13:11:49 GMT -5
Oh, god, yes, AWS is just a disaster. Sooo much to configure. My experience has been that even with the devs who are really seasoned and well-rounded, their take is "I know how to do X in AWS and that's it, I have no clue otherwise". You really have to specialize in devops in order to have a flying clue what to configure.
I went with Lightsail and Elastic Beanstalk precisely because it does a lot of that stuff for you. I don't have to worry about load balancers in Elastic Beanstalk because they're already configured. I think Lightsail is meant to be a competitor to DigitalOcean?
Anyway, after events of this week, I think I'm probably going to move back into my NYC apartment, at least while I still have the lease... My intentions of moving out to NJ were good, but ... dumb in the end. I moved out here so I would be less alone, but. Yeah. Don't move for love, kids!
|
|