BC SOFTWARE
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

I'm pretty sure whoever designed this control usually makes gender selectors for websites...

Poly Bridge has a language SLIDER.

 all languages exist on a spectrum from English to 한국어
next I want to see a game with a "choose language" button and it brings up this language map like it's a skill tree
gonna spend 200 XP to unlock Tamil
that's from here:
https://t.co/QaV1tKK4oa
also I'm not saying this game's online leaderboards have been exploited, but the top 15 (at least) scores for this level spent zero dollars on their bridge.

so they won without placing any bridge pieces? that sounds hard.
I thought I'd finally try Poly Bridge 2 to see if it has the same language slider but, uh, it doesn't seem to work as well
I think it just didn't like me alt-tabbing away to mute it.

Sadly, no: they've moved to a much more sensible drop-down
Poly Bridge 2: Just Like Poly Bridge 1, but we upgraded our UI toolkit!
I want a game where all the options are sliders
jump key: [slider from the top left key on the keyboard to the bottom right]
online leaderboard playername:
name length: [slider 1-10]
letter 1: [slider a-z]
letter 2: [slider a-z]
letter 3: [slider a-z]
good to see that Poly Bridge 2 inherits the mouse control bug where it always applies the mousewheel movement even when the game isn't the active window
I'm alt-tabbed over to twitter and as I scroll up and down the poly bridge 2 window is just zooming in and out
so one of the Neat New Features of Poly Bridge 2 is the replays system. Along with making your own bridge and comparing prices on the clearly-hacked leadboards, you can now view other player's solutions!
so obviously I want to know how this works. There's two obvious ways it might work:
1. the leaderboard contains videos. these are just mp4 files of the game being played
2. the leaderboard contains the data for the bridge designs, and it's being rendered in-game
the fact that it shows them all in a little window does make me think they're just video files, though.

and even though people aren't hacking 0$ wins into the leaderboard now doesn't mean they aren't cheating. They just do it with physics, not RAM hacking
here's one that shows a bit better what's happening.
They made a "bridge" which is a bit of dense road that falls and crushes the car, but since cars can't "crush", the physics engine ends up squirting them out like a watermelon seed
ok, three things I've figured out from wireshark:
1. it's talking to cloudflare
2. it's using TLS
3. it's probably about 750 kilobytes for one playback
TLS means I can't super-easily tell how it works.
and #1 and #3 mean it's probably just videos. tiny videos.
of course now the question is:
does it compress the videos in the client and upload them to the server?

or does it upload the solution to the server and let it render them?
because if it's #1, I might could beat a level with the video of Never Gonna Give You Up.
not that I would ever do such a thing, of course.
anyway I could now MITM the game and see into the TLS connections... it doesn't have a proxy setting, but it probably uses the IE one.
And thank fuck for that, because I'd hate to configure my proxy using a slider.

More from foone

foone
foone
@Foone
So Sony has this format called Optical Disc Archive, right? It's a high-density storage cartridge, but it turns out it works by cheating.


because if you open it up (which you should never do. trust me on this one)
it turns out... it's blu-ray.


it's a big STACK of blu-ray


And the idea is that Sony built some very complicated drive which you can slot this cartridge into, and it'll open it up and grab out the right disc and just read/write that one

then when you hit the eject button, it shoves the discs back in and closes up the case, and hands you the cartridge.
TECH
foone
foone
@Foone
So I got out some CF cards and noticed something odd about this one. Do you see the weirdness?


How the fuck is a CF card "USB Enabled"?


So CF cards are a weird beast that act as either a PCMCIA card or an ATA/IDE card depending on a mode pin.

They're definitely not USB.

And it's not like that weird SanDisk card I have which you can fold in half and plug it in as a USB device.


It turns out the reason for "USB Enabled" is because it's a Lexar drive from the jumpSHOT era.
This is a normal CF card in most cases, you can use it in normal CF card readers and such
FUN
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foone
foone
@Foone
So I was in the shower this morning, and started wondering:
Do you think the people implicated in Jeffrey Epstein's book had a general "Dead men tell no tales" slush fund?
Or did they have to separately organize his assignation?

I'm just imagining that on August 10th there's a big traffic jam of hired killers all running into each other like


some guy's sneaking out of a vent when a guard walks in, sees him, and goes "HALT!" and the vent guy goes "SHIT!", then notices the guard's ill-fitting suit. "Wait, ...Steve? Is that you?"

"Alex! I haven't seen you since the Reno heist! What are you doing here?"
"Same thing as you, looks like."

"I'll be damned. Well, I've already knocked out the guard, you want to let me finish this?"
"Yeah, go ahead. I'll get paid either way."
CULTURE
foone
foone
@Foone
I like how mediawiki exports pages because there's nothing I enjoy more than parsing a 1 gigabyte XML file

and I'm doing simple-english-wiki! it's way smaller than english wikipedia
I can only imagine how impossibly unparsable that nightmare is

fun fact: when programmers need to write code to extract data from an XML file, the process usually goes like this:
1. find XML file
2. open it in a text editor, see what the structure is
3. write some code that parses that

do you really want to open a 1 gigabyte XML file in your text editor?

do you want to fucking die?

I used to run into this problem back when I worked for the government, because sometimes I'd click a database query log (don't ask why our logs were in XML, it's... complicated) and it would turn out to be 100mb
TECH
foone
foone
@Foone
Bad news:, everyone: I got my next keyboard


The front folds down


Honestly I've seen much worse keyboards


It's got buttons on top


The back is molded but has no functionality except the battery compartment
FUN

More from Software

John Fetterman
John Fetterman
@JohnFetterman
buffalo uses dominion scoreboard software so not really


DEAD PEOPLE SCORED FOR BUFFALO!

A truck delivered off a suitcase full of points at halftime from Canada for Buffalo.

#StopTheSteel !!!!

I’ll be submitting sworn affidavits from Steelers fans than they saw the Buffalo rigging the game but I want to emphasize that I’m not under oath.
SOFTWARE
GSK | https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ab_mn
GSK | https://secure.a...
@gosokkyu
forgive my indulgence but 2020's been a big year for @shmuplations, so here's a look back at everything that went up over the last twelve months—there's a lot of stuff I'm sure you all read & other things you'd be forgiven for missing, so let's recap (thread)

the year kicked off with shmuplations' first big video project: a subtitled translation of a 2016 NHK documentary on the 30th anniversary of Dragon Quest which features interviews with Yuji Horii, Koichi Nakamura, Akira Toriyama, and Koichi Sugiyama https://t.co/JCWA15RTlx


following DQ30 was one of the most popular articles of the year: an assortment of interviews with composers Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima concerning the music of Streets of Rage 1, 2 & 3 https://t.co/QUtyC9W12Z their comments on SoR3 in particular were full of gems


Game Designers: The Next Generation profiled six potential successors to the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto & Hironobu Sakaguchi, some of who you may recognise: Kazuma Kaneko, Takeshi Miyaji (1966-2011), Noboru Harada, Kan Naitou, Takashi Tokita & Ryoji Amano https://t.co/lWZU3PLvwX


from the 2010 Akumajou Dracula Best Music Collections Box, a subbed video feature on long-time Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane https://t.co/NMJe4ROozR sadly, Chiruru has since passed; Yamane wrote these albums in his honor

https://t.co/orlgPTDsKK

https://t.co/QnQl8KI9IX
SOFTWARE
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Eric Seufert
Eric Seufert
@eric_seufert
Facebook -- having taken out full-page ads in the NYT, Washington Post, and WSJ -- is generally seen as the primary victim of the new app privacy controls coming in iOS14. But Google is perhaps even more vulnerable to ATT. Why has Google remained silent? (1/X)

2/ First, background: here's a high-level overview of how ATT / IDFA deprecation impacts advertisers and ad networks, and why this whole ordeal has put advertisers and ad networks into a state of panic:

3/ Google is equally as susceptible to harm from ATT as Facebook. Google's UAC product -- esp its tROAS and tCPA campaign objectives -- relies as much on IDFA-indexed monetization and engagement data as FB's mobile product does. But Google has one big weakness wrt ATT: YouTube

4/ Broadly, view-through attribution accounts for a disproportionate % of conversions from YouTube app install impressions. This means: user sees the YT ad, doesnt click, downloads app later, & Google is able to claim it by reconciling IDFA seen at impression to IDFA seen in app

5/ View-through attribution is nonexistent in the ATT paradigm as it relies on the IDFA; some significant portion of YT's attributed conversions will evaporate. So why isnt Google vocally opposing ATT? Two reasons: consumer optics and its duality as ad network / mobile platform
INTERNET , SOFTWARE
Pratham \U0001f468\u200d\U0001f4bb\U0001f680
Pratham 👨‍💻🚀...
@Prathkum
Let's create Phineas using CSS in few simple steps😄

THREAD🧵


STEP 1. Create a head

create a triangle and rotate it so that it looks like a head


STEP 2. Create smile and ear

We have a pseudo elements in CSS, so we can create smile and ear using head::after and head::before


STEP 3. Create eyes

This is the most trickiest part because in order to make an eye we have to create

- One bigger white circle
- then a small black pupil inside white circle
- then a small white reflection in black pupil

Let's create a outer white circle first


STEP 3(I). Create a black pupil

We can create pupil using pseudo element
SOFTWARE , SNIPPETS
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
How Silicon Valley, in a Show of Monopolistic Force, Destroyed

In the last three months, tech giants have censored political speech and journalism to manipulate U.S. politics -- banning reporting on the Bidens, removing the President, destroying a new competitor -- while US liberals, with virtual unanimity, have cheered.

The ACLU said the unity of Silicon Valley monopoly power to destroy Parler was deeply troubling. Leaders from Germany, France and Mexico protested. Only US liberals support it, because the dominant strain of US liberalism is not economic socialism but political authoritarianism.

https://t.co/qD9OdwlPbV


Just three months ago, a Dem-led House Committee issued a major report warning of the dangers of the anti-trust power of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook. Left-wing scholars have been sounding the alarm for years. Now it's here, and liberals
SOFTWARE

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dan spaceman
dan spaceman
@ohlaika
I'm gonna do my other star wars thread tomorrow, which will primarily be me yelling at a @RowanKaiser-shaped strawman for calling the First Order and The Resistance "cosplayers who the rest of the galaxy has to deal with"

the deal w/the New Republic, the First Order, and the Resistance is very weird and complex and I actually take issue with how Story Group frames the actual conflict.

pre-TFA stuff is presented as a "cold war" between the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire that form the First Order, which 100% makes sense.

But they frame the First Order's attack on the Hosnian system and the subsequent battle that takes place across TFA and TLJ as a full on war when it's very clearly a coup. A war implies at least equal standing, but the First Order completely wrecks shop and takes over the galaxy.

ok never mind I'm fucking doing this now.

The First Order fleet we see in TLJ is *not* the entire fleet of the First Order (I don't even think Starkiller Base was their main base of operations honestly, it couldn't have been considering they were operating out of Wild Space)
CULTURE
George Mack
George Mack
@george__mack
THREAD: 15 of the most useful razors and rules I've found.

Rules of thumb that simplify decisions.

Bezos' Razors:

• If unsure what action to take, let your 80-year-old self make it.

• If unsure who to work with, pick the person that has the best chances of breaking you out of a 3rd world prison.

Skinner's Law:

• If procrastinating on an item, you only have 2 options:

1. Make the pain of not doing it greater than the pain of doing it.

2. Make the pleasure of doing it greater than the pleasure of not doing it.

Luck Razor:

• If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line.

I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix.

In hindsight, it was the highest ROI decision I've ever made.

Bragging Razor:

• If someone brags about their success or happiness, assume it’s half what they claim.

• If someone downplays their success or happiness, assume it’s double what they claim.

The map is not the terrain.
ALL , BUSINESS , PRINCIPLES
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Edwin Hayward
Edwin Hayward
@uk_domain_names
Ok, it's high time to look at the REAL effects of Brexit. As the Tories implode & Labour sits on its hands, companies are executing contingency plans, shifting jobs & assets, slashing investments, or redomiciling (accounting exercise). Happening NOW, not in a fantasy future. 1/95

Barden Corporation is closing down its Plymouth factory after 51 years, putting 400 jobs at risk, as its parent company Schaeffler shifts production to various sites outside the UK due to Brexit.

8 health providers have warned of medicine shortages in the event of a no-deal Brexit: "we do not believe that the current medicine supply plans will suffice, and we will have widespread shortages if we do not respond urgently."

Pfizer - $100 million on Brexit prep: "Pfizer’s preparations are well advanced to make the changes necessary to meet EU legal requirements after the U.K. is no longer a member state, especially in the regulatory, manufacturing and supply chain areas."

The Government has spent £4.2 billion pounds on Brexit preparations (£2.2 billion in previous Budgets, plus an additional £2 billion in the most recent Budget.)
POLITICS
Shalini Singh Sengar
Shalini Singh Sengar
@Maverickmusafir
Remembering Colonel Anil Kaul, VrC (Retd) on his 3rd Death Anniversary.

“It was October 12, 1987, exactly 5:55 pm as I was… coming out of the cupola of my T-72 tank on a steamy evening in an unknown place called Kokkuvil in the Jaffna district of Northern Sri Lanka.+


I froze in that confined space at what I saw. An LTTE militant stood at 60 meters aiming his rocket-propelled gun at my tank.

In a flash he fired. Probably having lost his nerve he aimed too low. The projectile hit the left mudguard of the tank, but for some inexplicable reason+


did not explode. It then hit the side of the main gun and then exploded on top of the turret, all in a fraction of a second. Before I knew, it seemed I had received a straight right punch so to say to my chin. I saw some blood appear on my left hand and there was a sharp drop in+

my eyesight.

Lt Colonel (now Lt Gen) Dalbir Singh, then Commanding Officer of 10 Para Commando, who was standing on the engine deck said to me, “Yaar what a close shave.”

He suddenly saw me and the look on his face told me that something was very very wrong with me. In that+

fraction of a second, as if it was a rewind of my entire life, thoughts raced through my life as to how and when I had landed myself in such a situation…

I asked my gunner to pull out a first field dressing (FFD) which is standard equipment in a first aid box carried in each+
HISTORY
WORLD OF SANATAN DHARMA
WORLD OF SANATAN DHARM...
@world_sanatan
ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF INDIA UNDER THE BRITISH RULE

A 🧵

In 1800 CE, India amounted to a whopping 20% of the total world manufacturing output!

But more importantly the balance of trade went into the Indian economy in the form of goods in

1/8


exchange or bullion and helped Indian people’s standard of living. It had second most powerful economy, the wages and productivity throughout all the sections of society were high. It had a simple, inexpensive education system suited for its needs.

2/8

But, by the year 1900 , India had become synonymous with poverty, its exports accounted for mere 1.7% of the total world trade , and more than 30 million (more than 10 % of India's population) died of starvation in the British rule.

3/8

After 1818 when British became the major power in India Indian manufacturing output rapidly declined while British
increased.

See the attached image of table given by Paul Kennedy in his book ‘The Rise and Fall of Great Powers’

4/8


During the same period per capita levels of industrialization (relative to UK in 1900 =
100 scale) is given by Paul Kennedy in the following table.

5/8
ALL