Rycaut

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

Ran a solo game of 5e (DnD) for my 10 year old this evening. I was going to run a small published adventure that starts with one of three wizards giving the adventurers a quest.

So we started as adventures do in an inn. The three wizards entered and said they wanted to talk with adventurers

My son playing his character and his PC’s baby sister instead ate dinner, washed his hands, and left to find a candy store and a toy store…

Later seeing a wizard in the town square issue skill tests…

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

a bad design pattern I'm seeing more and more sites/apps use - overly aggressive notifications and emails to "remind" you about a deal or something you were browsing for on their site - no matter the specifics.

So, for example, last night I looked up hotel options for a friend's wedding in JUNE to see which hotels one chain I have status with has in the city. Since the details of the wedding reception etc aren't yet sent out, not ready to book. But today I've gotten an email and a notification

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

for reasons (current car needs more work than it is likely wise to invest in it) I'm now researching our next vehicle. It can't be an EV (no easy way to charge at home) though it perhaps could be a plugin hybrid (if it can recharge from a regular outlet though it isn't easy for me due to outlet locations)

But answering "Which companies have hybrid/plug-in hybrids from recent years w/power memory driver seats and good visibility for drivers of very different sizes" is eh not easy to research

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

Not entirely random thought this morning - could the internet (and perhaps global culture) be improved if the norm online became to write in your most comfortable language first & for apps/sites to then offer translations to anyone who doesn’t share that language. (Optionally including your own attempt(s) at other languages but this being optional not required.

It would take machine translation tools that can handle more than just <language> into English and which can be tuned to niche jargon

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

Which consultancy is peddling the suggestion that highly profitable record settingly valuable companies should be doing massive layoffs (while simultaneously having thousands of open positions?)

Guessing it’s McKinsey. (Since it is nearly always them) but curious if anyone actually knows the specifics (typically such advice is bundled with a book or series of books to give it authority, and delivered as highly expensive consulting projects to senior management)

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

Random(ish) idea for a game - every NPC is potentially a playable PC. Whether a video game or a table-top game it might start as a typical rpg where the player makes a character to play and starts off on the adventure. But then at every interaction with an NPC the player might have the option to switch to that NPC as the new PC (perhaps later switching back if the old PC is later encountered as an NPC)

(This might include the “monsters” not just typical NPCs running shops/giving quests etc)

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

just saw something that I've kinda suspected for a while - some companies are limited workers to specific states to avoid having to have employees in additional states due to various requirements that imposes (having a nexus in that state, adhering to each state's employment laws/regulations/tax filing etc)

Seems like something that the Federal Government could help address to make it easier for all companies to hire remote workers from anywhere in the US (and eventually globally)

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

Something I don’t think most people keep in mind re prices of computing devices and business services is that we have had decades of falling prices. Personal computers used to routinely cost $3k+ (in real not adjusted for inflation) so adjusted for inflation far more (ie 1984 Mac was $2499 inflation adjusted that’s over $6500). Businesses routinely paid more.

And everyone people and businesses paid for landlines, long distance charges and yellow page ads (for businesses)

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

so what's the least painful way to shop for a car these days? Just discovered my car which I had hoped would be our primary vehicle for another 3-4+ years needs some $6k in repairs which after having spent a bunch on it last year is more than I think it is likely worth putting into it. So need to figure out the whole dance of selling it / buying something else.

I had hoped to put off any new car shopping for many months & after looking into solar/garage reno (no way to charge an EV at present)

Rycaut, 4 months ago to random

I’m looking for my next project / role. Finding that LinkedIn etc has gotten worse as a method for looking - instead of seeing roles from my network or close contacts most jobs seem to be only those that are promoted (ie paid) and seeing a lot posted by recruiting firms that are obfuscating who their client is (and many roles posted without salary bands)

In fact one friend reported a free job listing he posted was marked as closed unless he paid by LinkedIn because too many people applied

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Latest example of Google breaking what should be really simple.

Searched my mail today for abt (fantastic appliance store that ships replacement filters for my fridge)

Gmail showed me endless results for “about” which was not at all what I searched for. No obvious way to disable this behavior. To find the emails I needed I had to modify the search for their full domain.

But I shouldn’t have to. The default for ALL searches should be - show the exact matches for the search entered.

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Sheesh.

Just got an emergency alert on my phone (which scares my middle schooler)

Alert has a link to X

Link doesn’t work if you click on it. Brings up a browser window that then says “something went wrong”

So nothing good from this in the least. Kids and pets seriously irritated and no information conveyed at all

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

today in #enshittification searched for a local sushi restaurant on Google Maps. Long listing which includes a "sponsored by" ad claiming to be sponsored by the restaurant. That lists one URL for the business.

Google's map listing shows a DIFFERENT URL for the business (one that does not, in fact, include the business name in the URL but when opened looks like the business)

Listing also has a menu link to a 3rd party site, an order now link to a Google page

How can I trust any of the links?

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

mass layoffs of people at one division of a larger firm is a strong signal that as a company they have trouble with lateral moves within the organization - great companies can shutter entire divisions without mass layoffs because they look for ways to support the workers (who they presumably have invested in training and hired for a reason) in finding other roles within the organization. So news stories about big firms having layoffs in one division is a strong negative signal IMHO

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

once again Google's obsession with showing results instead of just simply showing that there are no results ends up with really crappy experiences.

I have been (slowly) chipping away at my inbox. This evening I did a simple thing - a search of my inbox for messages with a subject that included "receipt"

(which found 100's of emails I could easily label & archive)

When I reached the last message Google decided to show "related" messages with recipes in the subject without first showing 0

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Small feature I wish email (specifically gmail but an email client could possibly do this also)

When I unsubscribe from a mailing list - offer me an easy way to see ALL earlier emails from that sender. Then make it easy for me to delete some or all of them (ideally offering me an easy option to retain any messages I specifically starred or replied to or forwarded etc) even better attempt to show me mailing list emails separate from any direct/personal emails/interactions with that sender.

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

today's moment of Google search failing me - I want to get a gift for neighbor's kid who's birthday my son is invited to in a few weeks. He's a smart kid, an omnivore in a family that is partially vegetarian (Indian) so I want to find a cookbook written for kids, but not with only Americanized boring dishes, and with some that are vegetarian BUT not all vegetarian.

If I include vegetarian in my search, Google ONLY shows vegetarian or vegan only cookbooks. And mostly ads not actual reviews

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

feature I want from my email client

When I select a sender show me how many messages I have gotten previously from that sender AND how many of those are still unread.

100% or close to it unread is an indicator of a great candidate to unsubscribe from - in fact showing me a view sorted by sender (or domain) and percentage unread would also be helpful

(and no showing me that I have "many" emails from a sender isn't sufficient. Huge difference between 51 emails and 500)

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

I like @anildash (we've know each other for eh a lot of years) and while I too agree that the return of the weird Internet is likely (and largely a good thing)

I also really want a return to the boring Internet. An internet with reliable trusted information, searches that don't try to think for me, and sites that really are from the local businesses I'm looking for (or are actual humans with real knowledge about a topic or area talking about it)

the internet of the 1990's was this as well

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

having spent much of today on the phone with various companies and organizations (resolving a mixup that resulting in something being canceled that I didn't want canceled) I've learned that like so much else one of the challenges as a consumer is that you don't know the magic phrases that describe within the organization's you are dealing with what you have experienced - you just know that your payment isn't happening or similar. In this case I needed to ask for an application to be "reinstated"

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Truly kinda shocking how few people are wearing masks when flying anymore. I expect that I’ll continue to wear masks while flying for years - as I enjoy not being sick when on or when coming home from vacations.

(Likewise at big gaming conventions etc - I expect I’ll wear a mask at least when in crowded spaces with poor airflow even when COVID isn’t a primary threat)

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Every year it bugs me that the ABC (and I assume other networks) broadcasts of the east coast New Year’s Eve shows claim to be “live” when broadcast on tape delay for the west coast hours later.

It’s trivial but seems fittingly inaccurate for modern major media which seems to have long ago given up any even attempt to actually be reliable

All they would have to do is just add a “recorded earlier” to the broadcast. Which as I recall they did years ago but seem to have dropped in recent years

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Parent (or grandparent or uncle/aunt) trick while traveling - if you have a tech/children’s museum membership (or art or zoo) ask about if they participate in a reciprocal agreement with other museums. Many do (usually limited to ones some distance like 75 miles often) from your home museum. We’ve used this on many trips and enjoyed new to us museums and zoos at little cost - leaving more in the travel budget for everything else.

It is especially great as it also makes for easy multiple visits

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

Sigh. Brand new socks (yup Xmas gift). Hole in them after less than a day of wearing them. Gonna need to replace them. Kinda shocking as I’ve never had socks wear out this fast before.

Rycaut, 5 months ago to random

For the GMs in the house what is your minimal set to pack with you for a trip when you might run some games? (5e in this case). I’m leaving tomorrow for a father and son vacation (to Portland OR) and my 10 year old has asked me to run some games for him while we are on vacation. So I need to bring enough to engage a 10 year old (which means actual minis/maps not pure theater of the mind)

Currently thinking some flexible maps, bag of dice, box with a few minis an laptop and his tablet

#ttrpg