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miamibre

139 karma · joined August 16, 2022

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miamibre··on America is bracing for political violence – and significant portion think its OK
Exactly! People who think that the vitriol is just cordoned off to social media haven't been paying attention to the very real spillover that has already claimed lives.

I think the issue is that mainstream media like movies showcases political violence as very well organized and full of manifestos when the majority of these attempts are very poorly planned and the people carrying it out clearly have mental disorders so it's very hard to pinpoint what ideology they are promoting.

I also believe that these recent attempts have showcased that the current political establishment has been doing an awful job at reconciliation and instead pouring gasoline by refusing to make a joint statements condemning the violence or making any sort of gesture that isn't blatantly bipartisan.

If you look at the political violence of the 60's and 70's in the US, there's a lot of overlap but at least the government took steps to not only keep it under control but congress actually took steps in dealing with the hot button issues. Nowadays it seems like we're just kicking the can down the road and blaming the other side for it. I mean just look at the current shutdown and tell me if this state of affairs won't result in further anger and people taking action with their own hands rather than rely on political institutions.

miamibre··on AWS multiple services outage in us-east-1
After rereading my comment I think I was a bit vague, but i'll try to clarify.

Most leagues DO sell their rights to other big companies to have them handle it however they see fit for a large annual fee.

MLB does it partially, some games are shown through cable tv (There are so many games a year that only a small portion is actually aired nationally) the rest are done via regional sports networks (RSNs) that aren't shown nationally. In order to make some money out of this situation MLB created MLBtv that lets you watch all games as long as there are not nationally aired or a local team that is serviced by a RSN. Recently there have been changes because one of the biggest conglomerate of RSNs has gone bankrupt forcing MLB to buy them out and MLB is trying to negotiate a new national cable package with the big telecoms. I believe ESPN has negotiated with MLB to buy out MLBtv but details are scarce.

MLS is a smaller league and Apple bought out exclusive streaming rights for 10 years for some ungodly amount of money. NFL and NBA also have some streaming options but I am less knowledgeable about them but I assume it's similar to MLBtv where there are too many games to broadcast so you can just watch them with a subscription to their service.

In the end of the day these massive deals are the biggest source of revenue for the leagues and the more ways they can divide up the pie among different companies they can extract more money in total. Just looking that the amount of contracts for the US alone is overwhelming.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_broadcasting_contracts_...

miamibre··on Tron: Ares Set to Lose $132M+
Thank you so much for saying this! The moment I saw the trailer and read the premise I immediately lost faith in the product.

I am not the biggest Tron fan but I have such a soft part in my heart for the movies because the original film has such a unique take on how computers work because back then they weren't mainstream that you end up with this weird mishmash of science and fantasy that you don't see anymore. Meanwhile, the sequel had this amazing production design and the remix version of the album has a permanent spot in my workout playlist thanks to all the techno artists they brought aboard.

Shame that the execs in Disney seem to be so clueless and just keep burning hundreds of millions to make these over-budget star studded films that no one is going to watch, at least in the case of marvel it makes sense but who in the world was clamoring for Tron? You need to take creative risks and shying away from the digital world isn't it.

miamibre··on AWS multiple services outage in us-east-1
MLB in the US does the same thing for the regular season, it's awesome despite the blackouts which prevent you from watching your local team but you can get around that with a simple VPN. But alas I believe that they will be making the service part of ESPN which will undoubtedly make the product worse just like they will do with NFL Red Zone.

The problem is that leagues miss out on billions of dollars of revenue when they do this AND they also have to maintain the streaming service which is way outside their technical wheelhouse.

MLS also has a pretty straightforward streaming service through AppleTV which I also enjoy.

What i find weird is that people complain (at least in the case of the MLS deal) that it's a BAD thing, that somehow having an easily accessible service that you just pay for and get access to without a contract or cable is diminishing popularity / discoverability of the product?

miamibre··on Game Hacking – Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)
It's pretty simple, nowadays the ONLY way to have fun in most multiplayer games is to win by any means. Outside of a few games like minecraft, every other game is designed around winning. 6 of the most played games on steam right now are some combination of competitive FPS / pvp survival or Dota 2. All of these games give you way more rewards for winning over just casually playing so over time the community is incentivized towards maximizing ELO, mastering the meta, and finding any ways to gain an edge on the competition.

I won't say it was better back in the 90s/ early 2000s but games had lobbies and people would just naturally drift around until they found one that satisfied their needs, be it playing more causally or for a more hardcore experience. Nowadays matchmaking is all controlled by the almighty algorithm which is just a glorified ELO/MMR system and dumps people together regardless of whether or not the game is "fun" for them. Worse yet "Quitting" is actively punished so you just have to stay in the game being frustrated and angry at your teammates until you lose. I always use pick up basketball as an example of how lobbies should work with people being given the choice of playing until they are tired/bored and punish trolls by excluding them forcing them to seek out another court or just start their own games.

Now that i have sworn off all competitive multiplayer games because i used to be a real fiend with several thousand hours in Dota 2 i have come to realize that as fun as the game is the fundamental failure of every matchmaking system is that your fun will always be dictated by how often you win because that's the only thing that is rewarded both in the game and by the community. If you look at any forum for these competitive games it's always the same complaints with people bemoaning that the balances is bad (AKA i don't win because if i did why would i complain), the game is too hard for newbies (AKA i don't win because the skill level is too high), and that the community is too toxic (AKA i don't win because i don't take the game too seriously and people get mad at me).

I'm much happier playing singleplayer games or exclusively cooperative games like Helldivers and Deep Rock Galactic and think most people would be too but they need to come to the realization that it's not the games fault per se but the underlying mechanics behind the matchmaking systems.

miamibre··on Javier Milei backtracks on $4.4B memecoin after 'insiders' pocket $87M
Listening to it now and it's so eye opening, these guys literally do NOT care about the project, all they care about is making money and using any advantages to get one up on the loser holding the bag.

-"Every one of these memecoins serves to make insiders money, what am i supposed to do NOT launch the project?"

-"This famous person lost $5 million so we made him whole and refunded to avoid any issues"

-"These coins are just a casino"

It's so funny that these guys are way more lucid and honest than most of the "investors"

Edit:

Oh man so this guy spends 40 minutes moaning how sniping and scams are rife in the Solana ecosystem but he himself sniped $MELANIA and claims "To not have made any money" which means nothing to me because I'm sure your bank account grew.

Also looked him up and he has 0 experience in development, LA Based, and was an "entrepreneur" for 7 years before becoming the CEO of a Bitcoin consulting company. This guy is the stereotypical rug pull con artist.

miamibre··on Javier Milei backtracks on $4.4B memecoin after 'insiders' pocket $87M
This would imply he got nothing out of it or even lost money and I highly doubt it because if he lost money he have have instantly sent out the police and justice department until he was made whole. The truth is this is plain corruption but instead of making millions he probably made a few $ 100ks over the span of a few hours.
miamibre··on Javier Milei backtracks on $4.4B memecoin after 'insiders' pocket $87M
I'm sorry but anyone buying this story is clearly either

A) A fool that hopes to rugpull someone in the future

B) A fool who hasn't made a 5 second google search to how all these coins operate

Either way I have yet to meet any "investor" that has made any money in these investments that couldn't have been made by just parking some cash in Bitcoin / Ether / DOGE if you really wanted to get a taste of cryto.

It's a shame that as I watch more and more of these articles and investigations line up it's clear that there is such a demand to lose money from the populace that they will really turn a blind eye to when political leaders / oligarchs / techbros do it in hopes of being able to cobble together a get rich quick scheme like this.

"It's a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe"

miamibre··on Boycott men? South Korea's 4B movement gains traction in the U.S.
Well during the 2020 elections we the losing group storm the capitol hoping to round up politicians and string them up so i'll take a little soul searching / blaming over that.
miamibre··on Ask HN: Where do you live? What's good or bad about it?
Ah another fellow Miami resident. Moved here in 2018 and for the most part I don't regret it.

I agree with most of your sentiment, Miami (really all of Florida) has awful urban design up there with Texas and other "Modern" metropolis in the US and i95 is a bane on this earth. However if you are Latin there really isn't another place with as much variety and cultural presence like South Florida. I have met Colombians, Argentinians, Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguan all with prominent communities doted across the city and that isn't even including all the Caribbean ones like Jamaica, Puerto Rico, DR, Haiti, and the Bahamas.

I love the beaches and had a more pleasant time in the Hollywood and Hallandale areas that in LA / SF throughout the year. The food scene is amazing and there are plenty of places for entertainment like concerts, sports, theater, and even drag brunches. And look I get that it's overrated but Disney is really impressive but for adults without kids i highly recommend Universal Studios which IMO blew Disney out of the water with both Harry Potter and a more enjoyable selection of rides in general.

My biggest complaints are that a lot of people I meet are "Short-term" transplants and very few people consider the area an option for residency which is a shame when trying to make friends especially now since I am pretty much committed. I also very much dislike how flat and uninteresting the landscapes are especially when driving up to Orlando where the most interesting landmark is a bridge or cows on the side; I miss seeing mountains or rolling hills at the very least. Also despite having a very lively culture scene in general the museums leave a lot to be desired; there are a few hidden gems like the Dali Museum in Tampa (Largest collection of his works outside of Europe) and the Vizcaya (Great Gatsby-like massive mansion built by one of the richest men in the US during the 20s). Also local / state politics could put a lot of people off, especially considering the strong presence of the MAGA crowd.

miamibre··on Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1 [video]
It's great to finally have a GTA game take place in a place I have intimate knowledge since I only moved here recently. A few things that I am hoping for:

-There better be a LOT of strip clubs, it's pretty bonkers that even where I live which is 30+ minutes away from Miami proper there are at least 5+ clubs in any direction

-I like that they captured the rednecky vibe and nonstop college party vibe from central / northern Florida

-I hope they explore the different Latin american communities outside of haitians and cubans. Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentinians, and Puerto Ricans are very numerous here and all are very distinct in terms of culture and social status

-Also hope they don't shy away from showing Jewish and Russian communities since they are very prominent in Aventura / West Palm Beach

-Biggest worry is that Florida is the flattest state and coming from GTA 5 and RDR 2 the mountains were my favorite areas, I saw some potential leaked maps that hinted at going to nearby islands and or a different country so maybe that will offer hiking / off road opportunities

-Also i'm pretty sure they are going to have a Disney / Universal Theme park and I genuinely hope they make it very lively with lots of roller coasters and more lively than the one in GTA 5

Overall very excited but it's a shame that PC isn't going to be a launch platform so I'm probably going to have to wait until 2026 or beyond.[1]

[1] https://www.take2games.com/ir/news/rockstar-games-announces-...

miamibre··on Ex-Kotaku staff go independent and launch Aftermath
I don't think that is very accurate, in my experience the most popular reviews are Personality Driven and it is largely done in the youtube space, the next most popular writen sites are also more neutral when it comes to their reviews (Gamespot, IGN, Gameinformer, Eurogamer). Honestly people just want two things, to hear their favorite content creator talk about the game or have someone say how great it is. But in my opinion the best way to sort out all the noise is to just find a content creator you share tastes with since IGN et al have such a massive cast of reviewers constantly shifting around so it doesn't make sense to rely on that.

You could also use a review aggregator if you just want to see what the overall consensus is: https://opencritic.com/

My other advice which has worked very well as a PC Gamer is to look up Steam reviews, there are a LOT of underappreciated games that were poorly received by critics but players actually enjoyed. It is also review bomb resistant since you actually need to buy the game,will allow you to filter out by time periods, and notify you if there have been a noticeable change in review patterns.

miamibre··on Sweden (Not Switzerland)
Having had the pleasure of visiting Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway I have to say I definitely underrated them for a long time. I had a great time exploring the cities with their public transportation and since all the capital cities are ports you can take ferries to nearby islands without paying extra. Their museums were also topnotch and the nearby landscapes are absolute beautiful with some world class hiking in the outer regions. My biggest complaints would be the food, yes the best restaurants were good but I was constantly spending $20+ just to sit down and eat some pasta, even kebabs were minimum $15. That said I highly recommend people to visit them in the summer or fall if you get the chance.
miamibre··on Slack is retiring its status account on X
Yeah this is easily the worst change I have seen on Twitter since the takeover. I have completely stopped using the site because of it. I need to use Nitter or Google Previews when looking up an account and even then it's bad. It pretty much has forced me to just never rely on twitter for any at the moment information and use other sources.
miamibre··on Weight-loss drugs seem like another bit of sci-fi becoming fact
However it is more akin to the modern dystopian sci-fi than the bubbly and optimistic sci-fi of the 60's. The moment you stop taking the drugs you gain the weight back in pretty much a year unless you made significant lifestyle changes, which most don't because you lose so much weight without doing anything [1] So once you are on the dose you are pretty much hooked for life especially once you are over 60. Gaining 30+ lbs in such a short time is a recipe for a short life.

It's always sad seeing people who struggle with weight loss due to hormonal issues but I hope patients due their due diligence before going to a doctor for a quick solution that doesn't solve behavior that leads to obesity.

[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9542252/

miamibre··on The Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes
For me the the only review service that is worth any salt is for video games and it's Steam Reviews

-Requires the reviewer to actually own / play the game

-Highlights the amount of time played so you can easily filter out people who just dismissed

-Lets you know who got the game for free or reviewed the game in early access

-The magnitude of votes is shown which lets you know if it is a niche title or mainstream blockbuster

-Gives you a timeline of votes so you can see changes over time and see if there are any review bomb cycles happening

It's not perfect but I find it wild that people think there is any value in these movie review aggregator sites when you can't even verify if the person watched the movie at all and these guys can just spam votes. Worse yet there isn't any incentive for the site to change this since more traffic means more eyeballs for ads.

miamibre··on France to spend €200M on destroying excess wine as demand falls
Same, my wife got pregnant and now that she doesn't drink I stopped and honestly it's been a very easy change. I suggest people to give it a try and reap the savings and benefits before knocking it.
miamibre··on Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory in Crisis
Agreed, I was born and raised there and lived until my late 20's and it's comparable to most of the US in terms of services you get. The issue is as you get older you notice that salaries are lower, a lot of goods such as gasoline are expensive, you get regular power outages, and the government is fairly incompetent and corrupt.

Most people who leave do so because it's like living in a bottom 50 state like Mississippi or Alabama, why stay when your quality of life will improve significantly just taking a 2 hour flight to another state? I was able to attend a top engineering school in the US and most of my high school friends were also able to get great jobs elsewhere too. We would love to go back but the drop in quality of life makes it a difficult choice.

miamibre··on Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory in Crisis
Also it has the ONLY tropical rainforest in the entire US in el Yunque!
miamibre··on Why are so many young men single and sexless?
What's wrong with "unattractive" women?
miamibre··on Do we live in a society without a counterculture?
So maybe this is because I wasn't raised in the US or in what would be described as the suburbs but why isn't Rap / Urban culture considered counterculture?

Just because a lot of acts have been turned mainstream and whitewashed doesn't mean they don't represent a radical departure from the status quo. And this isn't just in the US, in latin america you have reggaeton, in UK you have Grime and the rest of EU also have their own underground street culture marked by Violence, Crime, Drugs, Sex, and social issues which is very similar to Rock and Punk from back in the day.

Just like previous movements they are born from a sense of resentment and ostracism from "normal" society and a lot of the music tell tales that are often ignored had they not been made into a catchy tune that kids around the world listen to.

The highest grossing tour of 2022 was Bad Bunny's world tour [1] beating out well established acts and pretty much all his songs are in Spanish which is very surprising considering you see a lot of bilingual artists on the list.

[1]https://news.pollstar.com/2022/12/12/2022-year-end-biz-analy...

miamibre··on Qatar Bans Beer Sales at World Cup Stadiums
Can someone explain to me how a independent third party like FIFA can be put on trial for corruption? I know that bribing officials and requesting bribes is illegal but if a government employee comes to you and offers you a trip to their country and takes you dining and wining that is perfectly fine.

I ask because I am not sure what the solution is to "Cleaning up FIFA" they are a massive entity that is not really beholden to anyone because they are private and are just in the business of taking money from people to have players play more football.

I'm very curious because most of the issues that sports face in the US is more about labor disputes / discrimination / cleaning up player's messes / hiding medical results that may showcase the sport in bad light which are awful in their own right but fall short of the massive amounts of money FIFA executives receive from countries trying to sportswash.

Like many people the Russia / Qatar WC have been nothing short of eye-opening in terms of just how little FIFA cares about anything except raking in massive piles of cash that they use for some vanity projects here and there but mostly just to pay their executives.

miamibre··on Fed increases target rate to 3.75-4.00%
I think a lot of people aren't approaching the problem correctly.

Prices going down (Deflation) in a modern economy is very very very bad even if it's for Food and Gas. Since WW2 our economic system has been based on prices going up because that means people are producing goods to make money to spend it on goods. The real goal of these interest rate is to slow the rate of price increase because now there is less money available to borrow / print into the system. People / Businesses will now use debt less often to leverage their purchases which will slow down the economy. If prices increase too quickly the system burns itself alive. If prices lower it decays and dies.

So to answer your question prices will continue to rise because inflation will remain positive, however the rate of it will be lower.

miamibre··on Victoria III – First Impressions
Oh man I love Paradox Games, they really scratch an itch which no other game gets close to which is giving history context through game mechanics.

Playing through Hearts of Iron enough times and you really get a good understanding of why the cold war was more ideological than anything else and how certain governments would ally themselves with different factions depending on how wars played out. Play through Crusader Kings and you get an understanding of just how powerful France was before the formation of the UK and how HRE was simultaneously incredibly well organized and a mess.

I absolutely adore these games too because unlike 99% of 4x games out there it's an actual sandbox. Rather than giving you set objectives you just have to survive until the end of the era which can be hundred of years or just a decade depending on the game.

I never understood why there was such a focus on "Winning" in Civilization, felt like it was such a limiting factor in how i could play feeling more like a board game on a computer, especially in multiplayer. If you ever fell too far back you might as well check out early. Meanwhile every Paradox game is an actual sandbox. You want to play as a small group of tribesmen in medieval africa? Go nuts. Want to try creating a mercantile empire with your base of operations in the middle of Siberia. No problem. You might not reach your objective but as long as you survive you will never "lose".

Experiencing the rise and fall of your nation is way more fun than just racing towards the finish line and honestly makes more sense than achieving a "Culture" or "Science" victory.

miamibre··on Hans Niemann Suing Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura
In this case everyone mentioned in the suit public figure within the worldwide chess playing community which would suffice. Also this event has had international coverage from multiple sources which would be presented as evidence that they are indeed public figures if there was any doubt.
miamibre··on Hans Niemann Suing Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura
Thanks for posting this.

Shame that it is so difficult to navigate twitter at times, there is a lot of really good analysis here for anyone that is interested. I didn't go over the conspiracy and anti trust charges but he does a good job covering the bases and explaining what Niemann needs to show in order to be awarded damages or not have the suit thrown out.

miamibre··on Hans Niemann Suing Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura
Please note: I am not a lawyer

With that said, pretty much everyone in my family, including my SO, are lawyers and I have been around the block a few times when it comes to discussing slander / libel suits in the US.

As an independent 3rd party with no interest in the world of Chess, I don't see how Niemann expects to win any damages in this case.

In the US the bar for slander is very high due to the existence of the first amendment and trying to protect it, you will basically have to prove malicious intent and that the offending party knew they were lying. Other countries like the UK have a much lower bar which is why it's a bigger deal there.

Unless I am missing some clear piece of evidence no one made a bad faith comment (and i need to stress you need to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt)

Magnus felt there was foul play because he knew of Nieman's history of cheating which was public knowledge in the chess world, same thing with his comments regarding the coach

Chess.com simply made available data that is rightfully theirs and stated that his rise has been exceptional.

Hikaru simply commented on the situation like a million other youtubers / twitch streamers and influencers, he just happens to be an expert in the field so he made his opinion using his domain knowledge and the fact that Niemann had been previously accused of cheating.

Again, unless i am missing some clear piece of evidence no one acted maliciously or twisted the truth to purposely cause harm, only gave their opinion using the information they had available.

miamibre··on Wealthy Americans moving to Florida at 4 times the rate of other states
Same, I moved to Miami in 2019 from Puerto Rico because I wanted to keep speaking Spanish and I had a circle of friends to help me out.

Since then housing prices have been absolutely bananas, I was fortunate to buy a house relatively cheap in Oct 2021 but now the same houses are going for $100k+ more what I paid. If you want to buy anything that is 2 bedroom you better be prepared to pay +300k starting price and probably 20% down + HOA fee and increasing interest rates are going for %5+. Yet houses are flying off the market, mostly due to institutional investors putting 100% down in cash so you can't compete or have a total of one weekend to make an offer.

So far this year alone 3 people I know have moved out of Miami all due to housing affordibility. One moved to Tampa (which used to be pricier than Miami), another to South Carolina, and another to Ft Lauderdale.

My wife wants us to stay here to raise kids but whenever she talks about buying a new house I get queesy thinking how expensive it's going to be to get a large enough place. I love the Hollywood / Ft Luaderdale area but it's only a matter of time that prices catch up.