the closest thing on android right now is an app called Termux, it simulates a linux scripting environment with several languages (including C, python, and javascript), and it can be programmed to do anything an app can do (including blink the LED).
but c'mon, that should be standard. also phones should come rooted.
how about pocket computers with the power of a smartphone but the common sense usability of a goddamn graphing calculator? i'm sitting on a magic rectangle with more computing power than the apollo mission and it doesn't even let me blink the LED without installing an app?? these things should legally have to come with a scripting environment.
cards, dice, icehouse pyramids, and tiny plastic ducks
i designed this and ordered a print from mightyskins, it came out pretty good!
Yes, we have ghost communities. No, it's not a problem. We're not here to entertain you 24/7.
The Reddit communities that drove the most engagement were also the most toxic. The good part of Reddit was, and to some extent still is, the slow-moving communities that act as magnets for scraps of obscure knowledge.
Have patience.
I carry a spare usb stick and some low-capacity microsd cards, because sometimes its just easier to hand someone a file the old fashioned way.
Sometimes I do play games on my phone, but whenever possible I use a usb or bluetooth gamepad, because touchscreens aren't supplanting buttons any time soon.
And of course the Steam Deck is my favorite gizmo, not just because it can run every PC and emulator game, but also because it doesn't have any bullshit preventing me from installing mods. If phone modding was easy and accessible i'd be willing to spend more on a phone.
I've written about this on my blog: https://nycki.net/blog/2024-09-21-01-ethics-of-reuploading/
in brief: I think the right to keep one's memories should usually come first over another's right to be forgotten, but its ultimately a consent issue.
When dating people, I often ask "name a book that's not Harry Potter". Doesn't even have to be one you've read. Pick any book at all (other than Harry Potter) and tell me why you thought of it.
I'm not gatekeeping people who do or don't read books, and i don't care if it's sci fi, fantasy, fanfic, nonfic, whatever. what i do care about is that you are aware of at least one book and care enough to remember what it's about. That's a low bar, but not as low as you might think.
The "no Harry Potter" clause isn't specifically due to jkr being a terf (although that too), but because it's such an overused answer. Yeah, I do remember the books that were so popular that they had their own brand of jelly beans. I have run out of things to say about them. Pick literally anything else.
using an android phone running retroarch, an 8bitdo Zero Two wireless controller, and this 3D printable mount https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5998094 .
works pretty good for gb/gbc titles, and its much smaller than other controller attachments! I've been using it for some gba stuff too, like Game and Watch Gallery 4 or Pokemon: Too Many Types, which don't require the L/R buttons.
if this makes you want to buy a controller, I recommend the 8bitdo Micro, which is the same size but with two extra buttons.
inspired by The Best Way To Count.
made this to demonstrate mermaid flowchart generator
Homeworlds is a pure strategy game played using a set of colored pyramids. The colors and sizes represent different resources, and the goal is to build an interstellar supply chain to destroy your opponent's home planet.
Because the game is pure strategy, there's a risk of the meta becoming stale someday. Chess and Go are intimidating to new players because you basically have to study centuries of meta before you can do anything new in them.
So I've been thinking about ways to modify Homeworlds to be "imperfect strategy". This is my favorite pitch so far: the Secret Weapon.
When building your homeworld at the start of the game, each player also secretly places a 12mm dice under a large opaque pyramid. I'm using black 'mids here because they're not used for any purpose in game. The number on the hidden die represents one of the four resource types: 1 = yellow (warp), 2 = red (steal), 3 = green (replicate), 4 = blue (transform).
Once per game, without costing an action, you may reveal your Secret Weapon. Immediately take any piece of that color from the bank, and build it at your homeworld.
I haven't playtested this yet, so let me know if you do. I'm hoping it would lead to situations in the early- to mid-game, such as "hmm, I think it's safe to build a large piece, because you can't steal it this turn... unless your secret weapon is red, of course." The bluff and counter-bluff would make it impossible to play perfectly, so the meta would always have room to evolve.
Thank you, that makes some sense.