rodneylives

rodneylives , 5 days ago to Random stuff

Sigh. It's happening again. I'm thinking, "wouldn't it be cool to try [this other Linux distribution]"

This way lies madness. Mint is already on the spare laptop. I have no reason to abandon it. It works fine, it's boring and simple just the way I like it. It works with all the machine's hardware. Distro hopping is just going to cause problems that don't need to be there, and yet....

jame , 14 days ago to Random stuff

the #dillo browser after dealing with the loss of a core developer and the entire project going out and having to be revived by a new developer, as well as the original website being taken over by wordpress SEO slop...

released a new version after 9 years!!! and they are on fedi!

their website said to spread the word in order to support dillo, and you know what? i didn't know they were still at it, so now you know too. so go try it if you have some supremely crappy hardware, i know i do and dillo runs great on it.

thanks besties @dillo :steamhappy:

https://dillo-browser.github.io/latest.html

atomicpoet , 14 days ago (edited 14 days ago) to Random stuff

In more bizarre Atari news -- when has it not been bizarre lately -- they've just revived Infogrames.

Wait. Isn't the current Atari just a renaming of Infogrames?

Yes and no. Back in 2003, Infogrames bought Atari Corporation's assets from Hasbro. They quickly renamed themselves Atari. But this wasn't just a rebranding, they bought Atari's decades-old IP as well -- which includes Yars Revenge, Missile Command, Lunar Lander and others.

Unfortunately, this re-made Atari squandered this IP and instead tried to become a AAA publisher. They did manage to publish some landmark titles such as Unreal Tournament 2003, Neverwinter Nights, and Rollercoaster Tycoon. However, they were more known for shovelware and critically-panned games.

Eventually, they went bankrupt and had to sell off most of their prized AAA assets. This meant that they were mostly only left with their old Atari IP -- which has been languishing for decades.

However, they still own some old Infogrames IP. Blood is one such example, and that game is stellar. Nightdive Studios even did a remake of it, and they did a good job too.

So what is Atari going to do with Infogrames? Use it to publish games that fall outside of the core Atari brand. The first game on the docket is Totally Reliable Delivery Service.

https://atari.com/blogs/newsroom/atari-revives-infogrames-as-a-publishing-label

rodneylives , 16 days ago to Random stuff

Humble Bundle going for Corel products. it includes "essentials" versions of Corel Draw and Painter, which I used to use long ago, and Word Perfect, which still has the beloved Reveal Codes feature that seemingly no one has thought to copy in all this time.

rodneylives , 17 days ago to Random stuff

Yeah, I'm one of those terrible people you've heard of. One of those sorts who knows music mostly through Weird Al parody versions of songs.

rodneylives , 22 days ago to Role Playing Games

Second repost, for people in other time zones:

I've gone ahead and pushed #Dungeon out the door for people to buy and play. It's just $5: https://rodneylives.itch.io/c64-dungeon

It's a "complete game system," for old-school style fantasy #RPG adventures, for the #Commodore64. You use the Dungeon Guild to create a character, then put it through adventure modules other people have created. Five of them are included with the game, to play and to use their monsters and items in your own scenarios.

It was created back in the 80s by David Caruso II and published in 1990 on #LOADSTAR issue 74. It's presented by permission of the rights holder, Fender Tucker. It's set up and configured to play in #VICE!

rodneylives , 25 days ago to Random stuff

Why isn't there a trend towards self-hosted search? If you don't like the search results you get, why not spider them yourself, starting from a site or a list of pages that you provide? We've been doing search engines for a long time now. It seems like there has to be a good starting point for a project like this out there already, but so far I haven't found it.

rodneylives , 26 days ago to Random stuff

Some realizations about Voyager communicating with Earth:

• It's 15 billion miles away.
• The speed of light is 186,000 miles/second
• Math time 1: that's 80,645 seconds for a signal to travel one way
• Math time 2: That's /22 hours/. One way.
• Also, if the antenna ever gets moved so it doesn't point exactly in Voyager's direction, good luck finding that signal again.

atomicpoet , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to Random stuff

I was an Ouya owner.

I loved it. To this day -- 11 years after release -- I will defend the Ouya and sing its praises. To me, the Ouya was not a failure. It did exactly what I wanted and more.

Most people who hate on the Ouya never owned one and simply dogpiled on the hate. They never experienced it for themselves. They're simply retreading the same old talking points they heard from someone else.

In simple terms, here's why the Ouya was awesome: it was a $100 Android box that played indie games, emulated old consoles, and played Netflix.

The old meme about Ouya was that there were no good games for it except TowerFall. But that's poppycock.

The best game for the Ouya wasn't even Towerfall. It was Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe -- which, by the way, is on my Top 5 list of greatest indie games ever. And I've played many of them in my life.

Here's other great Ouya games:

• Big Action Mega Fight!
• bit Dungeon
• Love
• Neon Shadow
• Shadow Blade

To this day, I play all these games. They have a home on my Steam library. And I recommend them to everyone.

Beyond the indie games, there were the emulators. I wasn't just able to emulate Atari 2600 and NES games. I was able to do PlayStation and N64 too. Again, not bad for something that cost me $100.

The entertainment options were wonderful. I used it for watching Netflix. I also used my Ouya for subscribing to podcasts, which was wonderful on my home theatre set-up.

Oh yeah, and because the system was Android, if there was an Anrdoid app or game that wasn't available on the storefront, I could always side load an apk.

The closest modern device that comes close to doing what the Ouya did is the Amazon Fire TV Cube. That costs $190. Though it has games on it and lots of entertainment options, there isn't a whole lot on the storefront for emulation.

You know what? I miss my Ouya. And I wish other people were able to experience it.

rodneylives , 1 month ago to Random stuff

I have to admit, after The Occurrence from a few months ago, I get a little disappointed in people still posting on #Reddit now. I mean, very slightly, I'm not going to call anyone out, or condemn them, or even utter their names in my occasional nightly utterances to the Mauve One. But, still, a little.

It's just a site. It's arguably become too much of the internet, and should go away by whatever means. They're willing to sell out their users and unpaid mods, building an IPO off their backs, and also think nothing of selling off their writing in bulk to train AI.

I think of how Metafilter is trying hard to not rely too much on unpaid labor, still pursuing non-profit status for that reason, while Reddit did an IPO while run almost entirely by volunteers and profits hugely off the participation of users. It's basically #Gracenote all over again, just much much bigger. Any I think of all the slack Reddit's been cut from its bad old days, and how it doesn't really deserve it.

rodneylives , 1 month ago to Random stuff

Tablet Computer: (shows empty checkbox, acts innocent)
Me: (cautiously) Okay... I've been burned before... But I'm willing to forgive... (taps checkbox)
Tablet: (does nothing for two smug seconds)
Me: ....? Maybe I missed... (taps again)
Tablet: (checks box for a sixtieth of a second before my finger touches the screen, then immediately unchecks it again)
Me: (does little frustrated jig in a circle by my chair, utters invocation to Drebnar, wrathful god against user interface crimes)

rodneylives , 1 month ago to Random stuff

kmt on Metafilter linked to a great article explaining what the EU is and why their actions against US bigtech were, from their perspective, necessary and even inevitable: https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2024/facing-reality-in-the-eu-and-tech/

rodneylives , 1 month ago to Random stuff

One of the biggest issues with #Mastodon that I've found is that, when you follow too many people, you tend to only see what the people who post most often say. There are ways to diminish this: you can set your account to notify you when someone posts, and you can set up lists of people, but both are rather intentional for a popular tool, and they both can also be overwhelmed.

rodneylives , 2 months ago to Random stuff

GLORIOUS ADVENTURE! #Shiren #MysteryDungeon

https://youtu.be/kiLPdPjToNs

pluralistic , 2 months ago to Random stuff

Hard to overstate how enshittified and botshitted Google Maps has become. Went looking for my local locksmith on Gmaps. Maps shows 20+ fake locksmith referral scam outlets and doesn't even register the real locksmith, despite it being fully visible in Street View.

Instead, a red pin on the shop identifies it as a fake locksmith scammer. The real locksmith - which has been there SINCE 1942 (!!) and is a verified merchant - doesn't even show up.

Google Maps, showing the storefront for Golden State Lock as an empty building.

asaflowerblossoms , 2 months ago to Random stuff

I joined mastodon today because the CEO of #tumblr had a complete meltdown recently when people called him out for deleting a trans woman's blog because she posted a transition timeline. The vibes were definitely off, just doesn't feel like a safe place right now. I'd love to follow more #trans and #queer folks on here! This is my second social media account (third if you count myspace. omg should I go back to myspace??) so I need all the help I can get with navigating this place.

phrwn , 4 months ago to Random stuff

Sent from my iPhone, but still, hard agree:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

@pluralistic

rodneylives , 4 months ago to Random stuff

One of the many reasons Kirby is so beloved now is little touches like this actual boss fight from Kirby Super Star.
https://botsin.space/@KirbyBossFights/111655337797197124

theautisticcoach , 4 months ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Do my #ActuallyAutistic comrades use functioning labels?

If you don’t - why? What about them irks you?

If you do - why? Why are they important to you?

#AskingAutistics @actuallyautistic

rodneylives , 5 months ago to Random stuff

Wow, Flipboard seems to be going all-in on Fediverse integration: https://flipboard.social/@Flipboard/111602567919878918

I have been musing lately on how degraded old net services have been feeling. Having your own domain name doesn't have the prestige it once did. Why run your own mail server when you can just use Gmail or some other free host. I think this has been the result of corporate social media, it's nice to see open services gaining traction again.

rodneylives , 5 months ago to Random stuff

Reminding everyone that there's a gaming Storybundle going, with a book from me in it! There's also books from David Craddock, Hardcore Gaming 101 and Boss Fight Books in there, on subjects like horror games, beat-em-ups and Mortal Kombat! https://storybundle.com/games

My own contribution is a collection of posts from our ludicrously eclectic blog Set Side B (setsideb.com), where I frequently post about roguelikes, romhacks, arcade games, ancient consoles, weird bits of gaming culture, and other finds.

Hyperiontrails , 5 months ago to ActuallyAutistic group

#actuallyAutistic
@actuallyautistic

When someone says “sorry to hear that” in response to sad or painful news is that empathic/compassionate or is it self centred and the speaker is just sad they have had to hear the news ?