💾 Archived View for gemlog.blue › users › eph › 1627490938.gmi captured on 2024-08-25 at 07:18:44. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Software I use (and games I play)

💽 Software

I like to think that I'm pretty computer literate. I'm no good at programming, even though my final grade in Semantics or Computational Linguistics might suggest otherwise. I'm more of a software user, maybe even a power user, but not someone who's going to spend 40 hours on dotfile configurations. Here's a list of the stuff I use currently.

macOS -- Yeah, not exactly open-source free libre GNU/Linux, but it is proper UNIX. It just werks, even if I have some qualms about Apple's ethics. Shit's convenient yo.
iOS -- See above. I'd love to eventually switch to SailfishOS, but that's a project for another time.
Safari -- It just works.
Lagrange -- See above.
Waterfox -- I'm not impressed by Mozilla's shenanigans with Firefox, so when I need a Gecko browser I'll use Waterfox. Tabs belong *below* the address bar, and nothing Googel or Moziller does will move me from this stance.
uBlock Origin -- Mandatory for browsing the web. I sometimes will install it on other people's computers too.
XeLaTeX -- When I need a document made, I use XeLaTeX. It's got Unicode support and makes all my documents look like Armani suits: really freaking good.
Markdown (Typora, TextEdit, GNU nano &c.) -- When I don't need XeLaTeX-level of formatting, I'll make Markdown documents. My computer at the community center (camp job) absolutely chugs, so I'm not gonna use M$ Word for simple documents.
zsh -- I just think it's neat! No strong opinion here besides which oh-my-zsh theme is best (obviously nanotech)
Pantheon -- I used to use elementary OS as my daily driver, and while I don't anymore I'll still pull the old laptop out every once and a while.

🎮 Video games

Strategy

Stellaris -- 🌌 haha world cracker go 🪐💥
Hearts of Iron 4 -- typically with a mod called Red Flood, it's very uhh futuristic (that is, insane)
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri -- Excellent story told through gameplay, wears its hard sci-fi on its sleeve. Check out these two quotes!

At atrociously high energy states, the properties of matter change subtly and new miracles become possible. The Plasma Accretion process is now dangerous and difficult to control, but its products will soon become commonplace in our society.

– Sister Miriam Godwinson, "The Lord Works"

Begin with a function of arbitrary complexity. Feed it values, "sense data". Then, take your result, square it, and feed it back into your original function, adding a new set of sense data. Continue to feed your results back into the original function ad infinitum. What do you have? The fundamental principle of human consciousness.

– Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "The Feedback Principle"

Miriam is the religious leader! She's not science-shy, and her critiques of science are poignant especially when Zakharov's University of Planet is

...trampling on the garden of an angry God.

That quote becomes really important as you play the game, but I won't spoil it for you.

Endless Legend -- Beautiful strategy game, combat's ok but the presentation more than makes up for it
Endless Space 2 -- Similar to Endless Legend

RPGs

Tyranny -- Frontier justice! The bad guys have won! Yeehaw!
Torment: Tides of Numenera -- The setting's really cool, but I've yet to finish the game
Planescape: Torment -- Updated my journal.

Simulation

The Sims 4 -- eh, it's alright.
The Sims 3 -- better than the sims 4
Cities: Skylines -- Great game, but my traffic is always atrocious

FPS

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam -- Most realistic war crime simulator available
Openspades -- Fun little voxel shooter, great way to kill time

back to the index

Some would ask, how could a perfect God create a universe filled with so much that is evil. They have missed a greater conundrum: why would a perfect God create a universe at all?

– Sister Miriam Godwinson,

"But for the Grace of God"