Is it really feasible to run it 100% locally? I know there’s plenty of people with very powerful rigs indeed, but still.

There are small models you can run 100% locally on a mediocre computer or even a phone, and I mean you could be 100% offline and it will still work.

The better local models require a higher end gaming GPU or an ARM Mac with a decent amount of RAM, but nothing too extreme. You could get a computer to run them for about $2000 to $3000.

the software doesn’t come from nowhere and ultimately still relies on gas-turbine-powered datacenters and stolen IP and stolen personal data, no?

The small local models typically start with a full infustrial-size model and then they “distill” it to smaller models. The concerns over training data are still valid. I’m not sure how much the concerns over power usage are about training vs running the full industrial size models commercially. Running a small local model uses a tiny fraction of the power it takes to run an industrial size model, and the training is a one-time cost (except these companies never stop training because they want to make next year’s model better and faster).

I do think it’s worth pointing out that running a model locally keeps your conversations with it private. Remember, it can be done 100% offline. So your data won’t be stolen.

installing an app Apple hasn’t signed requires the command line, for example

It doesn’t, but it does make a scary popup, and requires the user to know to go to settings to find the section to override that popup.

It’s something to hassle with on Windows too. Less so on macOS because it’s easier for them to optimize everything when they control the whole software and hardware stack.

Less durable is not the same as fragile. All smartphones today are way more durable than any smartphone from 10 years ago.

It’s a tradeoff of a little less durability for a bigger screen when you want one.

You keep the drive encrypted while you are using it, and then when you want to wipe the data, you just wipe the part of the drive holding data related to computing the encryption key. You don’t touch the rest of the drive, but without the encryption key it’s effectively random noise.

This is already well known to be very unhealthy

Oh nice I guess I just need to check Steam lol.

By the term “remastered” I assumed it was going to be posted as a separate listing, like most remasters end up being…

Is there any reason I should buy this if I have the original?

Switching neutral with live generally won’t cause any issues. Switching neutral with ground is much worse but most likely would go without major issues. Switching ground and live would make things just not work at best, and become a huge fire and/or electrocution hazard at worst.

Why do I need a slightly smaller, less capable phone to stick on the back of my phone?

the world layout is very similar, but bigger

The general layout of Hyrule is never quite the same, but it’s always similar, dating back to the first Zelda game for the NES. That includes the general layout of key landmarks such as Lake Hylia, Zora’s Domain, Death Mountain, Gerudo Desert, and the Lost Woods, all of which are from the original NES title. Other key landmarks such as Hyrule Castle and Kakariko were introduced in A Link to the Past, which was the third game in the series.

Hmm, I haven’t played Minish Cap. How is Twilight Princess similar?

The story of Twilight Princess is most similar to Minish Cap IMO:

• guide character is a dubiously good character from a parallel world cursed by the antagonist
• antagonist invades from that parallel world and fills Hyrule with monsters
• Link transforming between two forms is the core gimmick
• the conflict between the guide character and the antagonist is more of a focus of the main plot than anything to do with Link specifically, besides that Link is “the chosen one”, and he has personal stake in the world getting ruined

That being said, Twilight Princess is a sequel to Ocarina of Time, including the end of Ocarina of Time as a core plot point and the Link from Ocarina of Time returning as the skeleton sword ghost.

Dungeon design feels very similar too, just with more detail and fancier puzzles. The water temple is still a chore, with backtracking between levels being a core mechanic.

I think a lot of what you are seeing here is just the Zelda series tropes and staples in general. However, Twilight Princess definitely is a deliberate return-to-form after the more experimental games that were Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask, but it includes some of the features, and improvements from Wind Waker, and some significant portions of Twilight Princess were built from cut content originally intended for Wind Waker.

It’s good to get comfortable in the command line, including over ssh.

Especially considering ai and documentation along the way?

If I am going to ask AI or Google about something, I just do that to help me find the answer and then apply the answer myself. That way I learn, and can double check the AI isn’t hallucinating, at least on in obvious ways.

As for documentation, I keep a notes folder with detailed notes on manual configuration I’ve done, how and why, and the things I’ve learned along the way. I’ve found it’s both useful to help remember the things I’ve learned, and it is useful to go back to refer to.

Nah Twilight Princess is more of a Minish Cap remake.

All 3 of those games are excellent though.

One day, in the name of organizing, my mom put all of our game CDs into a a compact container and threw the original boxes away.

Yeah that was a sad day…

free cooling courtesy of the icy death vacuum of space

Cooling in space is actually really hard. The only way to get rid of heat out there is to radiate it away as black body radiation, which is a really really slow process. It’s like wrapping your computer in a really really thick blanket.

The solar power is the only thing space has going for it.

“yeffy”

I think last time I bought one it was a 50 foot one for something like $15-$20.

People are mentioning buying from a spool but I am thinking more going to my local computer store,so there’s a some markup.

The snaky boy is more than $3 these days, at least if you get a long one.

Don’t forgot putting extra lipstick on any character it thinks is female

You can hack blu ray players, which can help get around DRM but also let you make your own rips of both movies and games.

https://github.com/RibShark/OmniDrive