MaartenVC
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Posts posted by MaartenVC
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On 4/26/2021 at 2:31 PM, Nil said:
Watched On becoming a God in Central Florida and quite liked it. Kirsten Dunst sure knows how to act, and all the Ponzi scam is quite fascinating.
About to finish Devs, one episode left. What a stunning mini-series really. Great storytelling and photography, a bunch of proper mindfucks, and Nick Offerman is absolutely amazing.On a much lighter note, binging Superstore. Makes me laugh a lot, and it gets more cringey and cynical as seasons go (which I didn’t expect).
Started watching Superstore.
I really like it so far. Absolutely hilarious.
Thanks for the recommendation.-
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10 hours ago, onecaseman said:
Okay, I got the Hand of the King boss in Dead Cells. Got destroyed. Kinda scared to try again as it takes an hour and a half to get that far.
This set-up worked for me many many times:
Spoiler- High investment in Tactics Stat & Health.
- Ranged Weapons with Freeze, Stun, Slow or Shock. (Lightning Bolt, Electric Whip, Frost Blast,...)
- Deployable Turrets with Freeze, Stun, Slow or Shock. (Tesla Coil, Double Crossb-o-matic, Sinew Slicer,...)
- Keep your distance at all times.GL HF
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Grim Dawn
A (Diablo-like) Hack-and-Slash Role-Playing Game, set within a dark fantasy Victorian setting.
From the makers of Titan Quest (now Crate Entertainment).
I backed it years ago on Kickstarter, but only now I started playing it.
Better than Dungeon Siege, Torchlight and Diablo III in my opinion.
You can dual Class. Lots of cool Loot. Good Lore. Different Environments. Secrets. Can be played in co-op.
And of course tons of hacking and/or shooting evil spawn.
Also nice: You can easily switch between Keyboard+Mouse and Controller.
Chill. I really like it.
You can get it for as low as 5€ on sale.-
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The Invisible Guest (2016) (Contratiempo) A Spanish Drama-Thriller.
"A successful entrepreneur accused of murder and a witness preparation expert have less than three hours to come up with an impregnable defense."
This one caught me off guard. I really liked this movie.
Slow build-up, great narrative, good acting, good cinematography, detailed, captivating, smart, snaking.
I can recommend giving this a watch for sure.-
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Battle Royale (2000) (BR) (Batoru Rowaiaru)
"In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary Battle Royale act."
A cult classic. Cheesy and bad acting, but somehow it's still a little bit of a guilty pleasure.
Seems like this Japanese movie / book inspired the The Hunger Games and the whole Battle Royale video game genre quite a bit.-
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Tenet (2020) by Nolan.
"Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time."
To put it mildly: I didn't like this movie.
More honestly: A golden diarrhea shower.
I wish I could go back in time and tell myself not to watch it.
Or does that create a paradox? Or not? Because entropy?
Anyway: A totally ridiculous chaotic tedious pretentious plot coated in a thick layer of pretty visuals, crazy action and heavy audio.
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5 hours ago, eassae said:
Here's some responses to Dr. Frank Mitloehner's research:
https://undark.org/2021/02/03/beef-industry-funding-climate/
https://clf.jhsph.edu/sites/default/files/2019-04/frank-mitloehner-white-paper-letter.pdf
https://www.antaisce.org/News/balance-claims-agri-debate-
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There was a really good documentary from DW Documentary on Youtube on the fentanyl drug epidemic in North America. However, it seems it can no longer be watched without age verification in EU unfortunately, but you can still download it through other means. The docu is also called Ten Dollar Death Trip: Inside The Fentanyl Crisis by Director Dominic Streeter.
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16 hours ago, eassae said:
What happens if I only started with 30 IQ points? Do I have to start over in the graveyard?
This is what I could find on dandwiki.com about Intelligence:
QuoteIntelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons. This ability is important for wizards because it affects how many spells they can cast, how hard their spells are to resist, and how powerful their spells can be. It’s also important for any character who wants to have a wide assortment of skills.
You apply your character’s Intelligence modifier to:
- The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game.
- The number of skill points gained each level. (But your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level.)
- Appraise, Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Knowledge, Search, and Spellcraft checks. These are the skills that have Intelligence as their key ability.
A wizard gains bonus spells based on her Intelligence score. The minimum Intelligence score needed to cast a wizard spell is 10 + the spell’s level.
An animal has an Intelligence score of 1 or 2. A creature of humanlike intelligence has a score of at least 3.
A character does not retroactively get additional skill points for previous levels if she increases her intelligence.
Any creature that can think, learn, or remember has at least 1 point of Intelligence. A creature with no Intelligence score is mindless, an automaton operating on simple instincts or programmed instructions. It has immunity to mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) and automatically fails Intelligence checks.
Mindless creatures do not gain feats or skills, although they may have bonus feats or racial skill bonuses.
And on rpg.stackexchange.com I found this Q&A about What happens when your Intelligence ability score reaches zero:
QuoteThere are no general rules for ability damage, almost certainly because ability damage in 5e is incredibly rare.
With that said, there are some sources of ability damage, so it's worth taking a look at them. The following effects are the only sources of ability damage I can find:
- The Intellect Devourer's Devour Intellect ability (MM 191), which can reduce a target's Intelligence to 0. If this happens, the target is stunned until it regains a point of Intelligence.
- The Shadow's Strength Drain ability (MM 269), which reduces a target's Strength by 1d4. If their Strength score reaches 0, they die.
It's not much to reach a conclusion from, but it seems clear that the consequences of an ability score reaching 0 depends on what ability score it is. It may even depend on the effect that causes it; perhaps Intelligence reaching 0 from Devour Intellect is different to Intelligence reaching 0 from some dastardly Intelligence-reducing disease.
It's possible, but by no means guaranteed, that a mental ability score reaching 0 causes a creature to be stunned until it regains a point of that ability score, and a physical ability score reaching 0 causes a creature to die. Obviously, this is based on the 2 examples we currently have, so it's not exactly scientific.
With all of that said, if, in your game, someone's ability score reaches 0 for a reason other than these 2 effects, it must be an effect you've added. That being the case, it's up to you to decide what the consequences of this occurring would be.
Food for thought.
Also: Boobas. -
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Color Out of Space (2019)
"A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world."
Lovecraftian horror. With Nicolas Cage. Some parts are kind of ok, I dunno.
I like the idea of incomprehensible horrifying things, but it seems near impossible to translate Lovecraftian horror to film.
Maybe imagination itself is the greatest creator of fear. Showing something greatly strips its scariness.
Is that why we're afraid of the dark, the unknown?
If you're into this genre I'd recommend In the Mouth of Madness (1994) by John Carpenter and Michael De Luca, with Sam Neill.-
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Ghost in the Shell (1995) (the anime movie)
"A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master."
One of my all time favorite anime movies. I love it.
I always forget that the Story actually has some quite complex elements you can easily miss.
Also has some quite interesting ideas about artificial life, memory, evolution and the meaning of being alive.
Might not be suitable for young children: contains some nudity.
Has some great music. OST by Kenji Kawai.
Also has some great atmospheric images of the city, a bit like Blade Runner:Some stills:
Going to watch the anime series and the other 2 anime movies again too.
"And where does the newborn go from here? The net is vast and infinite."-
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5 hours ago, Nebraska said:
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finally amerikkka first.
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
What do they mean by Anglo-Saxon Architectural Style?
Because if I do a Wiki search I get this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_architecture
I can't imagine that's what they're after.
I'm sure they actually mean to refer to Modern Stripped Neo-Classical Architecture, right?
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Icarus (2017)
"When Bryan sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller."
About Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory, and the state-run doping program of Russia, as ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Really good docu. I can highly recommend this one.
The user reviews on idmb are deliciously divided between people calling it Great and people calling it Propaganda.
Anyway, you'll never look at competitive sports quite the same.
I wonder what the statistics are on doping. What percentage of athletes use performance-enhancing drugs in reality.-
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Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014)
"Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability."
From the same Producer as Seaspiracy (2021).
Mostly about the meat industry; and how eating meat (especially beef and lamb) is related to once Carbon Footprint.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions including Methane, but also Water Usage, Land Usage, Protein Efficiency,...
Starts a bit unfocused but gradually finds its pace and subject.
Very good docu in my opinion.
I recommend giving it a watch.
Switching from beef to chicken might actually be a good first step.
Then one could gradually decrease meet consumption. Adding less meat to meals.
Maybe eventually one could go for a Vegetarian diet, or even Vegan diet.
However, don't forget to include protein substitutes like beans, lentils, peas, legumes, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, natto, jackfruit, tempeh, soy, tofu, seitan, quinoa,... There's lots of options really. Sure, most are not as tasty as chicken or borger, but seek and ye shall find.-
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Possessor (2020)
"Possessor follows an agent who works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies - ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients."
Pretty good mindfuck by Cronenberg Junior.
I recommend giving it a watch if you like Psy, Sci-Fi, or Cronenberg.-
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On 4/14/2021 at 2:07 AM, chenGOD said:
An interesting rebuttal from a marine biologist (I haven’t seen the film yet).
Yes indeed, as I suspected, some of the numbers shown in the docu are somewhat incorrect.
My guess is this was done deliberately by the filmmaker for extra dramatic effect.
Which I think is totally unnecessary. Just show the real numbers.
The situation is pretty damn dire enough as it is.
No need to perform magic tricks with the numbers imo.
I kind of agree with the writer of the article here: It undermines the docu.
However about the other points:
The writer of the article tries surprisingly hard to protect the ocean conservation community and the sustainable fishing industry. And he should, as you see, he's a member of the board of directors of Oceana, the oceanic environmental organization which is frequently referenced and criticized in the docu. The writer of the article might thus not be as objective as Vox makes it out to be.
That's just the thing. Many of the oceanic environmental organizations have rather strong ties with the fishing industry hidden from view. There's a conflict of interest. And that's also why they don't want you to stop eating fish altogether. Their goal is to change the fishing industry to be more sustainable. But, as the docu explains, fishing in a sustainable way is next to impossible if they want to keep up with demand and keep the industry alive. A lot of money and jobs are involved.
Sustainable fishing is kind of a joke. There are some good intents, sure, but in reality it can't be done really. The fishing industry wants to make money. Each year there's less and less fish in the sea, so to keep up with demand, they now have to use a technique called Bottom Trawling, which is towing a ginormous fishing net over the sea floor. The mouths of the largest nets are big enough to swallow multiple jumbo jets at the same time. Yes really. There's tons and tons of by-catch. And no-one can check if the by-catch is legal / sustainable. Good luck filtering out the animals you're not allowed to catch. Yeah, they don't filter those animals out. It's impossible when using this technique. Imagine a bulldozer up to 650 feet / 200 meters wide rolling around the countryside. lol. On top of that, Bottom Trawling is extremely destructive to the ocean floor. Ecosystems on the ocean floors don't just recover quickly after an event like that. It really is total devastation on an unimaginable scale.
And that's just the fishing industry...
There's tons of other harmful crap ending up in the ocean, messing up the Ocean Environment.
Also: Fishy eats crap. You eat fishy. Now for human -master species- actually not so healthy. Oops. -
On 4/13/2021 at 12:48 AM, auxien said:
bit more detail and explanation in here, but that PBS Spacetime vid^ is also a good one. more explanations i can get of this high-level stuff helps me understand, or at least get about as close as i can expect lol... still all up in the air tho, at about 20 minutes they start to get to the cold water 'okay well maybe it's not a new particle' discussion. i think the physicists kinda just want something new to be there tbh, but obv there's some shit that needs to be figured out one way or the other.
Found another video explaining the recent results from the Muon g-2 experiments with some more analogies.
I'm going to have to watch all these videos multiple times in order to fully comprehend them though.
I have love-hate relationship with Particle Physics. It's very interesting, but so incredibly complicated.
Especially Quantum Mechanics. No matter how much I read or watch videos about it, my brain just doesn't get it...-
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Pitch Black (2000) with Vin Diesel.
First movie in The Chronicles of Riddick franchise.
A hideous rancid migraine-inducing steaming donkey-turd sandwich.
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So apparently Andy Jenkinson / Ceephax Acid Crew is making comedy video game reviews now.
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Interesting, as some European countries / ruling governments seem to have decided to phase out Nuclear Power Generation completely, although they actually rely very heavily on Nuclear Power Generation in order to keep up with the demand for electricity, and on top of that that they'll actually need the Nuclear Power Generation in order to adhere to the Emission Targets of the Kyoto Protocols as they won't be able to replace all this Energy Production with Solar, Wind, and Hydro in time...
The decision to discontinue the usage of nuclear power for electrical energy production is often initiated out of fear of nuclear accidents and radioactive nuclear waste, which both may potentially cause harm to the health of citizens and the environment if something unforeseen would happen. I guess some lobbying from other energy sellers and some political populism may also be involved though.
Anyway, it's a difficult subject but I think the video above from Kurzgesagt explains why we should keep investing in Nuclear Power Generation rather well.
In my opinion we should invest heavily in the research for new safer Nuclear Power Generation (like Thorium-based nuclear power, Molten salt reactor,...). We will need the Energy in order to keep up with demand (it will only keep growing, no matter what) and in order to keep Emissions low from Fossil Fuel Power Generation to halt accelerated climate change (it's for the best for us humans and other life on Earth).
More on this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out-
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Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)
"Life in Cuba for three struggling families over the course of 45 years, from the cautious optimism of the early 1970s to the harrowing 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and the 2016 death of Fidel Castro."
A man with a movie camera follows Fidel Castro and a number of regular people in Cuba throughout the years.
The first 20 minutes are a bit disorientating, but after a while it finds its pace and subject.
It becomes really quite touching. Focusing in on the daily lives of people. It shows Cuba from a different point of view.
However, do be aware that it does very little to criticize the misdoings and atrocities of the rule of Fidel Castro.
You'll have to watch a different docu for that.
Anyway, I can recommend giving this docu a watch.
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Seaspiracy (2021)
"Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species - and uncovers alarming global corruption."
Starts out a bit like The Cove (2009), then gradually transitions into a broader docu on the fishing industry and its devastating effect on ocean life and to an extent also its effect on (future) human life.
Some of the numbers presented in the docu might be a bit cherry-picked, but overall the research is done quite well and the message is clear and solid I'd say. Eye-opening.
For me personally this docu finally convinced me to not eat any fish or marine animals any more at all.
Except for maybe some Salmon or Fish and Chips once a year, maybe, yes, no...
Why does it have to taste so damn good?
Anyway, give it a watch.-
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