Spyke

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Twitter US ad sales plunged 59%, and internal forecasts are grim, NYT reports

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Mastodon doesn't push content into your face, you get only what you ask for: the people and hashtags you follow. One caveat is that hashtag follow works much better if you are on a larger instance with more users and their follows pulling in more posts for a given hashtag.

For a specific example I am on mastodon.social and I follow a handful of individuals and a few hashtags (#boardgames and #emacs are probably the biggest ones) and I see about 50-80 posts a day which is plenty for me, especially if I dig into their threads.

gaming

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Any recommendations for low-end, Linux-friendly games to play?

This is what I have from Steam on my Linux laptop, similar HW, a bit older:
Baba Is You, The Binding of Isaac, Celeste, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Darkest Dungeon, Dicey Dungeons, Enter the Gungeon, FTL, Hollow Knight, Into the Breach, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Monster Train, Opus Magnum, Slay the Spire, Spelunky.
And traditional roguelikes are always good: Crawl, Brogue, Nethack.

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Any game recommendations to play outside?

Hive. The original version has larger tiles, the mini version is more compact but should still work as long as it's not too windy. Hive Carbon is worth checking out if you prefer that color scheme.

For Azul I wonder if the new Azul Mini might work better, smaller tiles but the boards have indents to keep tile in place. And much better score track.

linux

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My thoughts on Flatpak (that nobody asked for)

I am usually not a huge fan of such tools but I am kinda ok with flatpak. The fact that it doesn't need a daemon (or even root) and the relatively sane CLI makes it passable and I use it when the alternative is more painful.

One particularly fitting use case seems to be managing non-Steam packages on the Steam Deck. It funny to see non-Linux users managing to install and use all kinds of stuff through it.

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Splendor vs Splendor Duel - which is better?

As usual, it depends:

Splendor pros:

  • Plays 2-4 (vs strictly 2 for Duel)
  • Simpler rules, easier to teach
  • Larger chips, better tactility
  • Expansion available

Splendor Duel pros:

  • Rules and components optimized for 2p
  • Nicer card art (subjective)
  • More decisions, more interesting draft, multiple win conditions
  • Much smaller box, reasonably sized for the game (unlike the original)

If you plan on playing with more than 2 then original Splendor is the obvious choice. It's still a decent choice even if you will only ever play at 2 but value the simplicity and purity of the original design.

Duel is a more interesting game thanks to the new draft and multiple win conditions. "More" and "more interesting" is not automatically better under all circumstances though.

Personally I am keeping both even though we almost always play at 2. We play Duel more but sometimes I just want to play regular Splendor and Duel is not a 1-1 replacement.

The Duel box conveniently fits inside the original's box (insert tossed). I am no longer planning to get the Cities of Splendor expansion thoguh, Duel is filling the "Splendor with more stuff" space nicely.

For 7 Wonders it's more clear cut, Duel is a much better option for 2p.

For Agricola the two games are almost too different to compare. All Creatures (big box) is great in its own way but doesn't feel like a replacement for the original.

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Favorite small-medium sized solo games?

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Since we are in [email protected] I will ask the question: How would you design Vampire Survivors: The Boardgame?

My take: The one thing I would definitely want to preserve is the massive power escalation, both for the player and the enemies. Perhaps a deckbuilder with upgradeable cards? Like the transform cards in some Ascension sets but more increments. Each turn you'd have to deal with a large number of enemy cards that are arranged in a grid around you. Your cards would give movement, attack and defense. You'd be solving a quick spatial puzzle each turn to get the most out of your hand.

linux

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What distro(s) do you use?

Been on Gentoo for a long time. My current image has been rolling forward since 2008 which is when I switched to 64 bit but I started using it long before that.

I value transparency, control and customizability. I occasionally look into other options (and use them at work and in other contexts) but haven't yet found a better fit for my personal preferences.