terr's recent activity

  1. Comment on X-Men '97 - Season 1 Discussion in ~tv

    terr
    Link Parent
    That's funny, I had a different experience with the first episode. It felt familiar in that it's a genuinely well done recreation (though I still lament that they don't have the same sound effect...

    That's funny, I had a different experience with the first episode. It felt familiar in that it's a genuinely well done recreation (though I still lament that they don't have the same sound effect at the very end of the theme song when the electricity travels across the word X-Men, that was always the clincher for me), but I could just feel the modern updates. The way they had Cyclops push himself across the battlefield using his blasts, and his general tactical and martial prowess was so much more apparent to me, and I'm sure there were other moments that struck me with the same newness, though they don't occur to me just now since it's been weeks since I watched the episode.

    I agree that there was certainly an introductory sense of reminding the audience what the old cartoon was like, but like you said, they update and upgrade the tone pretty quickly and I really appreciate the way they've done it!

    All in all, this has gotten me back into the X-Men enough that I started reading the comics from their very introduction back in the 60s, and well... they've come a very long way since then. In reading the old comics, it's interesting seeing how the characters have developed and how quickly they settled into the character traits that I learned and recognize from the 90s cartoon, plus it's fun to see how early some of the characters were introduced in the X-Men canon.

    The worst part of the early comics though, is how incredibly badly Magneto was written early on. At the beginning he's nothing more than a mutant supremacist and believes himself to be the most powerful mutant and therefore the most supreme being on earth and that's his whole schtick. I'm very glad they developed him so much over the years.

    Also, the fact that someone always has a machine that can handle just about any problem handy at the flick of a switch so that they can introduce a hurdle and vault over it no more than 3 panels later. Comics have come a long way in general, thankfully.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    The responsiveness is ok unless you're asking it to do something a little more computationally heavy. Typically I'm experiencing a pause of 1-2 seconds after it detects that I've stopped speaking...

    The responsiveness is ok unless you're asking it to do something a little more computationally heavy. Typically I'm experiencing a pause of 1-2 seconds after it detects that I've stopped speaking and when it responds.

    That being said, while the voice tone it's using is quite human and conversational, the responses are still very much what I'd expect from any AI text generator. It definitely doesn't have the same personality that was on display in the demo videos, so I'm not sure if that means I'm just getting the new voices but am still getting responses from plain 'ol GPT-4, or if they gave it some custom instructions that give the various voices distinct personalities.

    Edit: Just tested having it sing to me, and it's definitely still the old version, it just recited "Twinkle twinkle little star" to me. Gave it some nice intonation, but definitely not sung. Seems I was just overexcited!

    1 vote

  3. Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    I do have the realistic voice option, there were 5 or 6 different voices to choose from when I first started it up, definitely including the voices from the promo videos. At least, it sounded that...

    I do have the realistic voice option, there were 5 or 6 different voices to choose from when I first started it up, definitely including the voices from the promo videos. At least, it sounded that way to me. Unfortunately I didn't use last year's voice model previously, so I don't have a baseline to compare it against, at current.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    It does, however, transcribe the conversation and provide that once you've closed the speech function.

    It does, however, transcribe the conversation and provide that once you've closed the speech function.

  5. Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    It is there (at least for me), I was playing around with it yesterday. In the mobile app I just have to select ChatGPT 4o as my model and then tap the headphone button next to the text entry bar...

    It is there (at least for me), I was playing around with it yesterday. In the mobile app I just have to select ChatGPT 4o as my model and then tap the headphone button next to the text entry bar to get it going.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    I expect it could well be sooner than that. I'm a random nobody and have access to the new update. I tried it out a little bit yesterday and (other than being slower than in the video because...

    I expect it could well be sooner than that. I'm a random nobody and have access to the new update. I tried it out a little bit yesterday and (other than being slower than in the video because presumably everyone with access was trying it out at the same time) it worked fairly similarly to how it shows on the various videos.

    My co-worker and I managed to confuse it briefly by having it switch back and forth between English and Croatian (while I was talking to it in English and my co-worker Croatian), but it caught up after a moment.

    Overall, I was surprised at how well it worked, but find it frustrating how overly enthusiastic it is about everything. I've yet to try out the video function, but I'll play around with it some more when I manage to find some time.

    9 votes

  7. Comment on Cartoons such as Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, or Avatar? in ~tv

    terr
    Link Parent
    I've frequently touted The Dragon Prince as the best (off-brand) D&D cartoon I've ever seen. The characters are great and the world itself feels like a great spin on the classic Tolkienian fantasy...

    I've frequently touted The Dragon Prince as the best (off-brand) D&D cartoon I've ever seen. The characters are great and the world itself feels like a great spin on the classic Tolkienian fantasy world.

    For anyone looking to check it out for the first time though, fair warning: the animation in the first season is pretty choppy because it's done at a relatively low frame rate, but it improves dramatically with season 2.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on How to make this a fun djinn fight for relatively new players? (Bryan: Stay out, I know you're out there) in ~games.tabletop

    terr
    Link Parent
    Ok, so for that party, I'd be particularly aware that the Druid could potentially cast Locate Creature and then be able to point directly at the Djinn for the next hour. I don't know if they're...

    Ok, so for that party, I'd be particularly aware that the Druid could potentially cast Locate Creature and then be able to point directly at the Djinn for the next hour. I don't know if they're going to be going in to this fight with foreknowledge of the kind of enemy they're going to face, but a devious spellcaster might make a plan like that. Faerie Fire is also a quick fix to invisibility that the Druid may choose to prepare, if given the opportunity.

    The good news is that they probably don't have a ton of other spells available to them that wouldn't also risk hurting the party. They might try casting Fog Cloud, but the Djinn could blow that away easily.

    I can't really think of a great nonmagical way of detecting the Djinn that would either be long-lasting or infinitely repeatable. Ropes and nets are breakable, bags of flour (or the like) are one-use and impractical to stock up on, and waiting for someone to get hit in order to determine where the strike came from is... probably not the most preferable course of action. Ground-based traps and looking for footprints won't work either since the Djinn can attack from 5 feet in the air.

    Grappling the Djinn once detected could grant them a moment to wail on him, but any forced movement of the character holding him in place will break the grapple (unless you rule that they can hang on to him with another check, perhaps) so it's truly only momentary.

    Long story short, I think there are a lot of different ways for the party to detect him momentarily and in that moment everyone strikes out. Prepared actions to attack the Djinn's location will be big, and if they can figure out a way to lock him into a known position they'll do great. Dispel Magic or a failed concentration check will also turn off his Improved Invisibility until he recasts it.

    Detect Magic might also work if the caster uses their action to see the aura of his invisibility spell, giving away his location.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on How to make this a fun djinn fight for relatively new players? (Bryan: Stay out, I know you're out there) in ~games.tabletop

    terr
    Link
    What's the composition of your party? Primary spellcasters will make a difference here since they'll have up to level 4 spells available, they might have spells that will work very nicely for...

    What's the composition of your party? Primary spellcasters will make a difference here since they'll have up to level 4 spells available, they might have spells that will work very nicely for them. For example, Raulothim's Psychic Lance will let them target any creature whose name they know, whether they can see it or not. Might be a good twist. If they don't have the spell regularly available, maybe a custom scroll of it designed specifically to target this Djinn? Or perhaps a more double-edged (and desperate) Sickening Radiance?

    For a more martial-focused party, maybe something like a lasso that's difficult for the Djinn to remove for some reason could help. First, it would tether him within a certain range, and could theoretically point the party in his direction.

    Remember that following rules as written, unless the Djinn is taking the Hide action invisibility doesn't directly correlate to being undetectable; his movements are traceable when he's invisible if he's not taking the time to move stealthily. That means that maybe they can hear a rush of wind when he moves and be aware of the square he's in but can't rely on effects that require them to see him, and will still have disadvantage on attacks against him. Of course, it's up to you whether you want to follow that or not, but if things aren't looking great for the party, then burning some of the Djinn's actions hiding will give them a bit more of an edge (above and beyond being a 5 to 1 fight). This might eliminate some of the potential frustration that not being able to locate him could cause.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Trap | Official trailer in ~movies

    terr
    Link Parent
    Calling it here: The daughter's the chopper, and he's just a 100% supportive father in everything she wants to do. Everything.

    Calling it here: The daughter's the chopper, and he's just a 100% supportive father in everything she wants to do. Everything.

    14 votes

  11. Comment on Keanu Reeves joins 'Sonic 3' as Shadow in ~movies

    terr
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I really didn't like his performance in Cyberpunk, if I'm being honest. It felt stilted, a lot of his line reads felt wooden and stiff to me and the energy flow of the character just felt off....

    I really didn't like his performance in Cyberpunk, if I'm being honest. It felt stilted, a lot of his line reads felt wooden and stiff to me and the energy flow of the character just felt off.

    Keanu has a distinct and kind of understated way of speaking that suits characters like Neo (who's new and overwhelmed by everything, and takes the time to absorb the new rules of the world) and John Wick (who's seen and done everything and is already pretty much done with the world), but I really felt like Johnny Silverhand should have been more way more bombastic and performative.

    It would have been much more interesting to me to see Johnny as this character that is introduced to us as this rock star legend personality who (while he's a jerk) is smart, slick, and has a real talent for riling people up and getting in their face, then eventually discovering that inside he's kind of just a sad, angry, hateful, spiteful soul ultimately just screaming into a hurricane, and the only way to truly help him isn't to further his terrorist agenda but to help him resolve the relationships from his past life.

    I don't know. I just feel like a lot of Keanu's performances are a bit one-noted and I'd like to see more rise and fall from him.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on What did you do to "prepare" for your marriage? in ~life

    terr
    Link Parent
    My wife and I are about to have a baby, and while we've had separate finances until now, I've been wondering whether or not we should figure out a better setup than "sometimes she sends me money"...

    My wife and I are about to have a baby, and while we've had separate finances until now, I've been wondering whether or not we should figure out a better setup than "sometimes she sends me money" (she makes over 1.5 times what I do, but I pay the larger portion of the bills currently).

    In particular, we're on a bit of a "prep spending" splurge before the baby comes, and considering a number of larger purchases that would have been nice bonuses beforehand but are looking a lot more like necessities with a baby in the picture. Things like getting AC for the house before our inevitably hot (and likely very smoky, so open windows aren't ideal) summer, and a second vehicle so that I'm not trapped and slowed by the bus schedule.

    The thing is, we both like having separate accounts to spend on whatever, so I'm considering proposing kind of the opposite of your setup: We each keep a matching allowance of sorts every month that will let us buy/save up for whatever personal things we want or need, and the rest goes into a "family money" pot which will pay for all the bills, the kid stuff, and be used to fuel our savings & investments.

    I have to think on whether that will turn out to be equitable/feasible though, and the math may well change once the baby comes since maternity leave will dramatically reduce her income for a year, and then her work schedule may change depending on our childcare arrangements. In theory, though, if things were tight for the family, all we'd have to do is reduce our individual allowances so that more is saved for the family and we don't have as much splurge money.

    If anyone has any thoughts on that plan though, I'd really appreciate hearing them, because I'm no financial planner and I could really use a sounding board or two.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on Chinese woman in Beijing goes on one hundred blind dates per year in ~life

    terr
    Link Parent
    I presume it's just an error in Chrome's translation, but this excerpt from that article gave me a chuckle (emphasis mine):

    I presume it's just an error in Chrome's translation, but this excerpt from that article gave me a chuckle (emphasis mine):

    Li Yufei was the first to refute the statement that "the vision is too high". In her opinion, her screening standards have been set quite low. Boys must be above 16cm tall and have good appearance.

    6 votes

  14. Comment on Star Wars Outlaws | Official story trailer in ~games

    terr
    Link Parent
    Not to mention that you'll almost certainly be able to pick up the "game of the year/complete edition" at 50% off, with all of the updates, bonuses, and DLC included, and quite possibly without...

    Not to mention that you'll almost certainly be able to pick up the "game of the year/complete edition" at 50% off, with all of the updates, bonuses, and DLC included, and quite possibly without having to engage with Ubisoft Connect (at least, I hope the game will eventually come to Steam).

    5 votes

  15. Comment on With a near-unprecedented official license for its fan server, 'City of Heroes' lives again in ~games

    terr
    Link Parent
    I've played a ton of CoH, more than any other game (probably more than most other games I've played combined). As far as backstory goes, each character selects one of 5 origins for where their...

    I've played a ton of CoH, more than any other game (probably more than most other games I've played combined).

    As far as backstory goes, each character selects one of 5 origins for where their powers come from (Magic, Mutant, Natural, Science, or Technology) which doesn't have much of an effect on gameplay, but gives you a starting point for theming your character. Then you select your Archetype (character class, more or less) and then a primary and secondary power set. Afterwards, you design your costume, choose colors and maybe an alternate animation or two for your powers (this was added later in the game's life, but was a welcome addition), and finally you pick your name and can write out your bio if you're so inclined (as long as it's 1000 characters long or less).

    The real magic of the game was always the costume creator, though. That, combined with the special effects from the powers you select, really help pull together a theme for a character. Honestly, the hardest part of the game has always been finding a clever superhero (or villain) name that hasn't already been thought of. I keep a running list of names I'm considering using on new characters some time. Sadly, most of the character names I have on my list currently are better for villains, and I prefer to make heroes. Highlights of my list include: Ughtrocity, Amphetameanie, and Indefensibull.

    8 votes

  16. Comment on From its start, Gmail conditioned us to trade privacy for free services in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    Interesting, I've got 17 GB now. When I look at the subscription storage options it says I'm on the free 15 GB plan, so I wonder what I did to get the extra storage. Probably some one-time offer...

    Interesting, I've got 17 GB now. When I look at the subscription storage options it says I'm on the free 15 GB plan, so I wonder what I did to get the extra storage. Probably some one-time offer for something I did ages ago. I kind of bought into their whole ecosystem wholesale a number of years ago, though I guess I'll have to see if that turns out to have been a bad idea.

  17. Comment on From its start, Gmail conditioned us to trade privacy for free services in ~tech

    terr
    Link Parent
    I didn't get on to Gmail right at launch, but I did get on when it was still invite-only. I remember that not only was there 1GB of storage, but when I joined they were actively increasing the...

    I didn't get on to Gmail right at launch, but I did get on when it was still invite-only. I remember that not only was there 1GB of storage, but when I joined they were actively increasing the amount of storage available to everyone and there was a ticker-counter that would constantly update to show you just how much storage you had available at any given moment. Sometimes I'd just watch it for a while to see the number grow.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (April 2024) in ~health.mental

    terr
    Link Parent
    Hi, I read your post and wanted to acknowledge that your thoughts and feelings have been seen here and that your venting is welcome. I wish I had some wise words or advice that could help...

    Hi, I read your post and wanted to acknowledge that your thoughts and feelings have been seen here and that your venting is welcome. I wish I had some wise words or advice that could help alleviate any amount of what you're dealing with in your life, but I find that empathy is all I've got to proffer.

    I hope that knowing a stranger on the other side of the world has seen and considered your words is of some small solace. We may not know one another, but I do know that your life and your experiences matter, so thank you for sharing.

    10 votes

  19. Comment on Trans men enter Miss Italy pageant in droves after trans women are told they can’t compete in ~lgbt

    terr
    Link Parent
    The article said that he entered the competition using his dead name, and the email shows that the name entered was 'Federica Barbarossa'. Now, I don't know if Barbarossa was his family name at...

    On an unrelated note, 'Federico Barbarossa' is a great name. If you are also in the process of transitioning, and are choosing a new name, I implore you to consider taking the name of a former Holy Roman Emperor.

    The article said that he entered the competition using his dead name, and the email shows that the name entered was 'Federica Barbarossa'. Now, I don't know if Barbarossa was his family name at birth or if that was chosen too, but it's quite possible he was just set up for that success from day 1!

    21 votes

  20. Comment on $400,000 worth of Playdate game consoles disappear in Las Vegas, hardware maker says in ~games

    terr
    Link Parent
    I work as a shipper, and I find this altogether too painfully familiar. The number of times I've tracked a shipment that was signed for but the client reports never having received is just... way...

    I work as a shipper, and I find this altogether too painfully familiar. The number of times I've tracked a shipment that was signed for but the client reports never having received is just... way too high.

    Then I have to waste an hour or more chasing down people and trying to find someone named "Joe" or perhaps "Illegible" at such-and-such address to see if I can't get the shipment where it's actually supposed to be.

    That being said, I do tend to agree with Sasser's assessment that most people are good and that things tend to work out. Then again, I ship meteorological equipment, not handheld game consoles, so the black market on my shipments has a bit of a different vibe about it, I imagine. Now, please excuse me while I imagine a rogue meteorologist looking to buy some gently-used equipment on the cheap.

    15 votes