My SO is interested in learning Python because she hopes it becomes useful in her work. She works with ArcGIS and/or QGIS and apparently it supports Python scripting so she's thinking about giving it a go.

She has no programming background so I was hoping you friends could suggest something for absolute beginners that would teach her both the Python and programming basics. It doesn't have to be very comprehensive, just something to get her started.

She has managed to get some scripts working through copy/pasting and minor adjustments but she lacks the foundations to really build a script of her own.

Thanks a lot!!

I've been having a couple of troubles playing Diablo IV, though they seem to be a lot worse with the new expansion. After a while of playing for a while, the game seems to leak VRAM and makes my desktop pretty unstable. Alt+tabbing occasionally breaks the game, the image freezes but I still hear the noises of the menus opening and such. If I don't alt-tab the game doesn't break.

I have found this reddit thread about setting a dxvk file to limit the amount of VRAM available to Diablo. I set up the max VRAM to 8gib but mangohud still reports 10gb being used. I tried setting the DXVK_CONFIG_FILE flag but that also doesn't seem to work. Mangohud report 10gb VRAM very fast. DXVK file contents:

dxgi.maxDeviceMemory=8192
dxgi.maxSharedMemory=8192

Decreasing the graphic settings just slows down the problem, it doesn't prevent it.

Launch options: DXVK_CONFIG_FILE=/gamedrive/dxvk.conf mangohud %command%

Specs:

Intel i7-12700K @ 4.900GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (driver version: 560.35.03)
64GB DDR4
EndeavourOS Linux
6.11.3-zen1-1-zen
Hyprland
GE-Proton9-16

I've been having a couple of troubles playing Diablo IV, though they seem to be a lot worse with the new expansion. After a while of playing for a while, the game seems to leak VRAM and makes my desktop pretty unstable. Alt+tabbing occasionally breaks the game, the image freezes but I still hear the noises of the menus opening and such. If I don't alt-tab the game doesn't break.

I have found this reddit thread about setting a dxvk file to limit the amount of VRAM available to Diablo. I set up the max VRAM to 8gib but mangohud still reports 10gb being used. I tried setting the DXVK_CONFIG_FILE flag but that also doesn't seem to work. Mangohud report 10gb VRAM very fast. DXVK file contents:

dxgi.maxDeviceMemory=8192
dxgi.maxSharedMemory=8192

Decreasing the graphic settings just slows down the problem, it doesn't prevent it.

Launch options: DXVK_CONFIG_FILE=/gamedrive/dxvk.conf mangohud %command%

Specs:

Intel i7-12700K @ 4.900GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (driver version: 560.35.03)
64GB DDR4
EndeavourOS Linux
6.11.3-zen1-1-zen
Hyprland
GE-Proton9-16

Hi friends.

Ever since God of War was released on the PS4, I wanted to play it. Loved the original trilogy, wanted to give this one a go.

Since God of War has a "Verified" badge I ended up buying it. Unfortunately the experience has been really really bad. The game crashes every 10-20 minutes. The steam deck (OLED) completely freezes and I have to hard reboot the device.

I've googled about this issue, everyone seems to point at these graphical settings and some others but none seem to work.

I've tried several Proton versions, with and without GE but also no luck. The game crashes a lot. It's disappointing that the game has the "Verified" badge but is basically unplayable. No other game has ever given me any trouble.

Anyone had this problem and managed to get it to work? Thanks.

I work with a client that migrated their infrastructure to Microsoft. In order to connect to their Linux Server, I now have to Remote Desktop to their Azure Virtual Desktop thing. I'm not pleased but it's out of my control.

I tried remmina freerdp but doesn't seem to support that Azure thing, there doesn't seem to be an option to add the workspace.

Any recommendations or do I have to setup a virtual machine just for this? :/ Cheers

Sorry for the weird question, felt like someone in this community would know how to deal with this.

I bought 5 packs of Dragon Shield Dual sleeves on CardMarket. They arrived fast and all packs were perfectly sealed. When I open the packs, 3 of the packs are defective. There's a black stripe on the top/bottom of the sleeves, which effectively mark them. These sleeves simply cannot be used. The other 2 packs seem decent, albeit with small defects on the side of the sleeves. Not big enough for me to complain, I think. They all come from the same batch.

I feel bad asking the seller for a refund, I don't think they had a way of knowing the sleeves were defective. The packs were sealed and the batch number is only visible after you open the packs. But maybe they have some sort of way to get the money back from their distributor or something? I have contacted them to see how to go from here but no reply so far.

I saw that Dragon Shield also has a contact form for defects but they warn me that since I didn't buy the sleeves from their store there is a very low chance they'll actually do anything. I submitted the form anyway to let them know that this batch is likely defective.

Who should provide compensation for defective sleeves? The seller or dragon shield?

EDIT: seller replied refusing any compensation, Dragon Shield has not yet replied. Lesson learned: I'll order from Amazon next time instead of throwing money away.

EDIT2: today, July 8th, Dragon Shield replied and offered me a full refund as a voucher for a purchase on their website, free shipping included. They stated that the manufacturing process of the Dual Mattes line makes this problem hard to avoid, though it was particularly bad in my case. I recommend avoid the "Dual Matte" line altogether.

Cheers!

Not affiliated with the author, I just really like their videos.

Searching for product recommendations has become harder and harder over the years. I used to google or browse reddit for reviews, used them to create a shortlist of products and then actually dig deeper and compare them.

Lets say I'm in the market for a mechanical keyboard, but I don't know much about them. I use whatever search engine to look for "best mechanical keyboard 2024". The results are really bad, and I mean really bad. It's more of a list of keyboards to avoid, to be honest. The problem is not just google. Bing, duckduckgo, Kagi, Startpage... all results suck. The results are filled with AI generated pages or outlets farming affiliate links. There are a couple of good suggestions in the middle of the garbage but if 9/10 websites recommend a random razer keyboard, I'm inclined to believe it's an option worth considering.

Some of my friends say they resort to Youtube. I can agree that Youtube has amazing content creators that give amazing reviews and produce great quality content. But if you don't know anything about the subject, how do you know which content creator is good and which content creator is just farming affiliate links?

One of the things I loved about Reddit was that I could just go to /r/whateversubject and talk to what I felt was real people discussing products they loved. I no longer use Reddit ,and Lemmy, unfortunately, doesn't have a big enough userbase to have a good community for each type of product.

So, what's your strategy to find out good products on subjects you know nothing about?

As soon as this game launched on Kickstarter, I backed it. I had discussed before with my friends that I would love for a good way to play Slay the Spire cooperatively. Yes, there are mods for the videogame which introduce co-op, but you're playing a multiplayer solitaire game. You aren't really interacting that much. The boardgame implements co-op in a really nice, interactive and meaningful way.

Context and bias

I think it's important to put a big disclaimer that I am heavily biased towards this game. I love the Slay the Spire videogame, I beat A20 with every character and have more than 500 hours playtime. I was extremely hyped to play the boardgame.

These initial thoughts were gathered from a ~~single play~~ two plays in Ascension 0 (no heart), all players were experienced StS gamers (A20 with at least 1 character) and each act took around 2 hours). Yeah, we played the game for more than 6h :P

TL;DR

First impressions score: 9/10

Positives:

• It really feels like Slay the Spire

• Basically zero downtime

• Upkeep is very low

• Randomness is VERY WELL implemented

• Really fun

• The box is very nice, included insert is just ok but gets the job done

Negatives:

• It takes like 2 hours for experienced players to play a single act, I can't imagine how long it would take for first timers

• Sleeving/Unsleeving cards to upgrade them is not great

• Sleeves are included, but they're very low quality

• The character miniatures are very low quality

The game loop

Slay the Spire is a deck builder game. You start with a very basic and weak deck of cards. Throughout the game you will acquire new cards, upgrade them, get relics, potions and hopefully remove a few of your basic cards. The goal of the game is to move through map and eventually defeat the final boss.

You start the game at the base of the map, where you'll fight some basic monsters. After beating the encounter you can navigate to one the 3 randomly generated map paths, whatever one you feel better suits your team needs.

Each player has a designated row and a monster (and possibly its minions) will be spawned in from of each player.

At the start of your turn you draw 5 cards and set your mana to 3. Each of your initial cards have a mana cost from 0 to 2 and you can play them however you like. There is no turn order, players can play or coordinate their actions as they please. Your attack cards can attack any monster, regardless of their row. Your defense cards usually target yourself, though some allow you to support your friends. After every player has player their cards, every remaining card is discarded and now the monsters will have their turn.

The monster turn is usually very simple, they just attack the player in front of them and it's done. The players can draw 5 cards and play again. If a player dies, it's game over. Otherwise, the game continues until all monsters are defeated.

Each monster awards a set of rewards to the player in front of them. Typically you get some coins and a new card. You reveal 3 new cards and you can add one of them to your deck. The new cards are generally better than your starter ones but you can choose to skip it altogether. You can also get potions (a 1 time effect) and relics (passive effects throughout the entire run).

After beating the initial encounter, you select one the map branches and move up. There are several types of encounters: shop, random events, regular monsters, elite monsters... It's cool to decide how to move up thoughout the map considering your current status. Low on health? Lets try to target a resting spot. Doing great? Lets kick some elite ass. Eventually you'll reach the boss and hopefully your deck is now strong enough to beat it.

Differences from the videogame

• Most stuff works exactly like the videogame

• Damage has been heavily re-scaled so the math is very easy. Each attack deals 1 damage, for instance. It was never hard to figure out how much damage you were going to deal or take.

• Several cards, potions and relics have been changed to reduce complexity and upkeep.

• Nothing ticks down at end of turn. Poison never ticks down, for instance. You don't lose focus at end of turn. Upkeep is minimal.

• Vulnerable works a bit differently. Your next attack deals double damage against a vulnerable foe, then you remove one vulnerable "token". If you applied 2x vulnerable, then your next 2 attacks deal double damage.

• Weak means you deal 1 less damage on your next attack.

• Defect (3rd character) orb order doesn't matter, you can evoke any orb you want. You can also target anything you want, it's not random.

• Dark orbs deal 3 damage + 1 damage for each power in play, to avoid upkeep

Randomness

Every randomness in the game is performed with a die roll. At the start of the turn you roll a die and every random effect for that round (your turn + monster turn) uses that die roll. You don't roll the die for every single effect. You roll once and apply it to everything.

Things that interact with the die:

• Some relics perform automatically on a die roll (eg: deal 4 damage when 4 is rolled)

• Some monster attack depends on the die roll (eg: monster might attack on roll 1-3 and buff up on roll 4-6)

• Some cards do different things depending on the die roll

The thing I like about this is that it's very low maintenance, you just roll the die once per round and you know exactly what is going to happen for the entire round. This is not something like "I'm going to attack, roll the die aaaaaand... I missed". At the start of the turn you know exactly how everything is going to pan out. I love that.

First impressions

Boardgames based on videogames are usually awful. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a boardgame adaptation. They're usually very fiddle, with tremendous amount of book keeping and upkeep effects. I was very hyped with Slay the Spire but also very concerned that this would be the case. The videogame takes care of a ton of stuff for you. I don't want to keep track of my dark orbs or to apply double damage after 10 attacks. That's just not fun to track.

I'm happy to say that Slay the Spire, the boardgame is amazing. I think the designer paid a tremendous amount of respect to videogame, it really does feel like Slay the Spire. All the monsters, their attacks, the relics, everything works like videogame. It does a really good job at making you feel at home. However, the designer also spent a tremendous amount of effort to reduce how much stuff you need to keep track off. Upkeep was usually just dealing poison damage and orb damage, that's it. No tickdowns, no doubling, no keeping track of attacks, claws or cards used.

The cooperative aspect of the game is very nice. You can really cooperate and complement your friend's turns. It's fun to coordinate which monster to kill first and managing everyone's defense. The game makes a good job at creating tension, especially in the act 2. You have that feeling you have no chance but then actually pull it off with minimal losses. And most importantly: it really does feel like a team effort. It doesn't feel solitaire.

Each act took us 2 hours but it didn't feel like 2 hours. The game felt fast paced. Since turns are simultaneous, the downtime between turns was basically non-existent. The monster's turns are VERY fast so you're back to the action really quickly.

So why is this game not instantly a 10/10? My biggest issue with the game is actually its length. 2+ hours per act is a lot. The game tells you that you can play a single act and also provides a way to start immediately from the second or third act, which is great. However, a full run is going to take you 6+ hours. Personally I don't really like to start/finish a run in the middle of the game, I'll have to get used to it.

Final thoughts

If you love the Slay the Spire videogame and are looking for a similar co-operative experience, this is an absolute no-brainer. Get this game. You need it in your life. I'm really glad I backed it and plan to continue enjoying it with friends.

I'm not big on playing boardgames solo and I honestly see no point on getting this game if you're just going to play solo. The videogame is probably 10x cheaper and you can play an entire run under 1 hour. I would just play the videogame, to be honest.

What if you've never played Slay the Spire? Honestly that's a tough one. I think a big part of the experience is that this feels pretty much like the videogame. While there are some progression aspects in the form of card unlocks and increased difficulties, there isn't much to look forward to. Maybe a game like Aeon's End, which has a campaign like feeling and a story would be something you'll enjoy more. I don't know. Your millage may vary and I'd love to hear the thoughts from someone who had no idea what Slay the Spire was!

Hi friends. For the second time, the left monitor of my custom one pro has been having issues.

Looking to buy an alternative, let me know your suggestions!

Hi friends.

I own a couple of games that are pretty much played exclusively with the Steam Deck's touch screen. There are some community layouts that do work but they honestly suck. The best example for this is Magic Arena or Football Manager 2024.

Holding the Steam Deck with one hand is a bit uncomfortable, the ergonomics aren't good. I'm sure there must be some kind I'm accessory I'm not aware of that improves this. I tend to play on the couch, a kickstand wouldn't be great here.

Thanks in advance!

I've been working with a Javascript (+ TypeScript) + Java + SQL stack for the last 10 years.

For 2024 I'd like to learn a new programming language, just for fun. I don't have any particular goals in mind, I just want to learn something new. If I can use it later professionally that'd be cool, but if not that's okay too.

Requirements:

• Runs on linux
• Not interested in languages created by Google or Apple
• No "joke languages", please

Thank you very much!

EDIT: I ended up ordering the paperback version of the Rust book. Maybe one day I'll contribute to the Lemmy code base or something :P Thank you all for the replies!!!