Spyke

Replies

news

Comment on

US Postal Service electric trucks are finally here and drivers love them

Reply in thread

USPS is self-funded through postage and other services they provide. They did receive $50 billion from an emergency funding bill back in '22, but that also removed a hefty, arbitrary load: back in 2006, legislation was passed that forced the USPS into pre-fund retirement plans for the next 75 years. The emergency funding bill lifted that requirement and gave emergency funding to the USPS under the condition that the USPS adopt changes listed in the bill to further address funding shortfalls and become solvent again.

The people paying for USPS windshield replacements are effectively paying customers, much like how toll roads are supposed to fund their own upkeep by charging for its use.

Comment on

Is someone safe if they report income from illegal means to the IRS?

Tax evasion on top of the other illegal activity can increase the consequences if you're caught. They tend to require warrants before divulging information to other authorities, however any information gathered through legal means can be used against you.

The main benefit of reporting the income is to reduce the likelihood that somebody gets suspicious of the change in buying habits and starts in investigation in the first place.

games

Comment on

Unity Claims PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Will Pay Its New Runtime Fee On Behalf Of Devs

Reply in thread

This sounds like it would mean charging Valve money for the privilege of using Valve's own infrastructure every time a player installed a Unity game after a major PC upgrade/reinstall or after uninstalling that MMO they dumped every other game in their library try out.

Steam could probably bake a ban on software that uses installation trackers into their developer/publisher ToS, or ban the collection or transmission of Steam user data related to installations, or something similar.

Comment on

LCD Steam Decks on sale. 64GB LCD (15% off - $296.65) and 512GB LCD (25% off - $336.75)

Reply in thread

Tbf, they sold the Steam Controller for a while, and eventually dropped the price to $5 just to clean out the rest of their stock- and that was the end of a product line instead of the older, cheaper version of a current product.

Alternatively, they may have realized that some people who want the Steam Deck but cannot afford it justify the OLED model as their first handheld PC would most likely go to a competitors' product instead, or write off handheld PCs as unattainable due to cost.

For my part, I was on the fence about the LCD model when it came out because I didn't think I'd have enough use case scenarios to justify the initial cost, and only after someone I know upgraded to the OLED and gifted me their old LCD model did I actually find out what I was missing out on. Now that I've had one for the better part of a year, I can say that the LCD model works for my needs.

If I had any complaints, it's that the touchpad is too low in its position and too square for me to comfortably use for FPS games, and the select & start buttons are placed in such a way that I have to reach my thumb over their respective analog sticks just to reach, which feels awkward sometimes; I feel that the touchpad and analog stick positions should've been swapped- though iirc the OLED has the same form factor, so it's not an issue exclusive to the LCD model. I'm also coming from the perspective of a Steam Controller fan, too, which to me is nearly perfect as a controller. (I only wish the left pad was just a dedicated d-pad, better analog emulation when using keyboard inputs, and as many back paddles as the Steam Deck.)

games

Comment on

Games with graphics resembling PS1 or PS2?

I've been enjoying Signalis. It's a survival horror game with a top down 2.5d perspective and a late ps1-early ps2 graphics style. It's very reminiscent of the older Resident Evil games where ammo is scarce(more or less is available based on difficulty), inventory space is limited(adjustable limits are available in settings), and there are specific rooms with a storage container where you can store items and save your game (there is no autosave or checkpoint system; you have to manually save your game), but it very much feels like it's own thing.

I picked it up on a whim when looking for games with female protagonists to play on a new-to-me hand-me-down Steam Deck, and it happens to run perfectly on it.

news

Comment on

The massive U.S. port strike has begun

Reply in thread

If there's anything to learn from US politics for the past, well, forever, it's that some politicians and voters don't let the truth interfere with their narrative or perceived reality.

Springfield, Ohio is probably the best evidence of that.

Comment on

Does the USPS, FedEx and UPS give a crap about weed shipments since Hemp sprayed with the same terpenes and looks the same as weed has been shipped legally for 9 years now?

Reply in thread

Iirc, the USPS can't unilaterally search your letters or packages because, as a government institution, it would be a major violation of the 4th amendment- even postal inspectors need to get a warrant to open a letter or package that's not expressly addressed to them if it was in the care of the USPS. I think the only exception is when it's an 'Operation Santa' letter, and there are regulations in place for how those get handled to protect the privacy of the sender.

The private parcel and package companies probably don't have to abide by the same restrictions because they're not government owned and operated.

news

Comment on

*Permanently Deleted*

Reply in thread

Likely never; our country has been allergic to holding people adequately accountable for abuses of power for a long time. Remember, Ford pardoned Nixon. I'll be pleasantly surprised if the next Democratic president doesn't pardon Trump and/or most of these people in the name of bipartisanship.

games

Comment on

What are some video game quotes that is stuck in your head?

Reply in thread

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It happened when important NPCs died, rendering unfinished or future quests associated with that character impossible to complete or start; iirc essential NPCs didn't have immunity to damage and death in Morrowind like in later Bethesda titles, so these NPCs were protected only by the player reloading their save after getting this message upon the essential NPCs' death.