• 3 Posts
  • 21 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 26th, 2023

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  • Most general “must-see” places have already been mentioned, you can’t go wrong with them. I would perhaps throw in Leuven as a good half/one day trip, especially if you’re staying in the center of the country.

    I’d suggest to also focus on distinctly Belgian food/activities, which your friend might not have in Germany: visiting a frituur, sampling the local beer/pralines, going for a bike ride, perhaps a cantus if you’re up for that. These are independent of location but are all quintessentially Belgian.



  • It certainly depends on the clients used, but in my experience searching for communities Lemmy-wide is as, or perhaps even more, discoverable/straightforward than looking through local communities. So most new users will hopefully find their way to other servers’ communities (and I expect this UX to be reinforced by most clients where promoting decentralisation is part of their philosophy).

    Of course some users will still stumble upon an inactive community first and be confused. However, I don’t know if stumbling upon locked communities instead would be a big improvement (and would certainly be a detriment to the existing occasional poster who now has an additional barrier to posting).

    A reference to one or more related communities in the description would be a great idea though, regardless of level of activity; it’d be a fallback for inactive communities, but also a curated way to find more places in that field.





  • Ich bin momentan in Griechenland und kann das nur teilweise bestätigen:

    • Plastiktüten gibt es, muss man aber extra bezahlen (war vor ein paar Jahren noch umsonst). Sie sind allereings entweder recycle-bar, oder stark/mehrfach verwendbar.
    • Plastikeinwegbecher z.B. für Parties findet man noch im Supermarkt, das ist aber nicht anders als in anderen europäischen Ländern. Bei Cafés wird der Kaffee meist in den gewohnten Karton-Bechern verkauft.
    • Genauso mit Trinkhalmen; zum Eigengebrauch kann man sie noch in Plastik finden, bei Cafés wird allerdings meist einer aus Papier usw. benutzt. Plastikfolien sind leider noch häufig da.
    • Lose Deckel kriegt man eigentlich bei neuen Produkten nirgendwo mehr. Einige Läden haben noch ältere Verpackungen auf Lager, aber die bleiben nicht lange.

    All das in Athen allerdings; kann sein dass es auf den Inseln anders aussieht.


  • Game dev is a very varied field, there’s lots of ways to get into it and there’s (almost) no bad choice as long as you put effort into it. Game development includes even things like art, sound, music, writing etc. which all are exciting in their own right (and indeed, if you want to make a game by yourself you’ll have the chance to dabble in all of them), but from the way you phrased your question I’m assuming that you want to focus first on the programming(/game engine) part.

    For game engines, I’ve heard a lot of praise for Godot, both for its good design and possibilities. For a first game engine, I’d pick one that is well documented, has a strong community and a doable learning curve, I think Godot ticks all boxes. After that, you can look around to see if another engine matches your needs better, but you’ll already be familiar with the basics which are transferable.

    For programming, the basic skills are again transferable between different languages of the same type; any popular imperative language should do. Lua is simple and straightforward, Python probably has the most resources for beginners, C still is the basis for a lot of the systems in use and will teach you more about computer science if you feel like it, C++ is popular for bigger projects in gamedev, the list goes on. No reason to be overwhelmed by choice though; pick any of them that seems to “click” with you and if you want to switch a few months later, you’ll get up to speed fast. Once you pick a language and have gone through the basics of it, a good game dev exercise I think is to try to make clones of existing small games. Games like Tic Tac Toe, Snake, Pong hold a surprising amount of challenges which will all come in handy when you’ll start making your own (more complex) thing.

    Personally I have more experience with programming than with game engines, but you could go with either of them and leave the other for later as needed. As long as you’re motivated and put in effort, you’ll get there :)



  • This is a very inaccurate map, as it lumps the actual Italian empire, protectorates and administrated regions all together as one. The map’s resolution is very small so it’s hard to tell, but some places are marked that were none of the above (e.g. Athens in Axis-occupued Greece).

    Even worse though, this map includes regions that were never under Italian control simultaneously. Quoting from the Wikipedia image on the linked article (and which this map is an either accidental or intentional worse copy of):

    Italian Colonial Empire. Every territory ever controlled by the Italian Empire as some point in time during World War II. (many of those were not under Italian control until November 1942/early 1943, and East Africa was lost before the conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941)





  • I’ve been playing it sporadically over the past 10 years and I’d say it’s a lot of fun! Very easy to get into, even for people with little strategy experience. The mechanics are clear and not overly complex; for beginners and intermediate players I feel like it’s just the right balance.

    It also runs on pretty much anything (as demonstrated^), so I like having it installed and playing a short skirmish for 20-30’ if I’m bored. Alternatively, there’s plenty of decent campaigns, and a lot of fan content (and a map editor if you want to try your hands at it).

    I’ve only played it a computer though, so not sure how well the interface works for touchscreens.




  • Nice idea about the GPS receiver, I hadn’t thought of this workaround.

    I ~recently got a Fairphone as well, and while it’s the next model, the fact that I can see them still supporting the FP3 with both hardware and software was what convinced me that they’ll probably keep the same promise with my model in the future.

    Apart from no headphone jack and it being a little bigger than I’d like, I’m very happy with the FP4. I intend to use it until the end of its 5-year warranty, and reading about the longevity of yours makes me optimistic. Thanks for sharing!


  • It certainly has a learning curve, and not everything is well designed. However, I think that’s unfortunately to be expected of the whole domain; ERP tends to be one of the most complex types of software. The question is, which option makes this whole complexity less painful/overwhelming.

    For the scope, features and breadth that Odoo offers, I think it’s doing a decent job (albeit with lots of room for improvement).

    Is there any alternative ERP system of a ~comparable scope that you could alternatively recommend? Python-based is ideal, but other languages are also fine.






  • I have a similar background and went to Flanders for a Master’s, and have been very satisfied.

    There’s several good universities, and most everybody speaks good English (even outside of the university environment) - to the degree that it can even be difficult to practice Dutch unless asking people deliberately to do so. Nevertheless, learning some Dutch helps with some everyday things like the supermarket, and should you aim for an intermediate+ level (think B1/2) it can give you an edge when looking for a job later.

    Job opportunities are generally better than in most European countries, both in the industry and with all the organizations hosted in Brussels.

    University fees are low compared to the UK (though similar to other European countries), but living costs are high. Expect to pay at least €400 rent for a small student room, and monthly expenses of another €400 if living in simple student conditions.

    Public services are mostly good, with decent education, excellent healthcare and mostly reliable public transport (trains are alright, but buses can have issues from time to time). Most places are safe (besides the occasional bike theft), and police are actually nice.

    I’ve grown to like the people here. Coming from southern Europe they can appear somewhat closed, and indeed tend to keep to themselves mostly. But if you show genuine interest in the country and it’s ways, and even start learning some Dutch, it will be appreciated and you’ll find people to hang out with and even become friends (of course, the alternative to just mingle with internationals is very common). In general they’re polite, helpful and professional even when they don’t know you, it’s just that it takes a while to break this first “acquaintance” barrier. Sharing a dorm with them is usually a good way to get to know them better.

    Quality of life depends on who you ask. The weather is pretty much what you’d get in England, and night life is limited to a few places and not too long either. But there’s a lot of opportunities for activities, sports, culture etc., and the region has a rich heritage with beautiful cities (also some nice nature in Wallonia). Work-Life balance is excellent which coming from the South is a very welcome change (Belgians will work well and efficiently until their shift is done, and then not touch work again until the next day).

    If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to answer them :)