Near, creator of groundbreaking Nintendo emulator, dead at 27

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Originally published at: Near, creator of groundbreaking Nintendo emulator, dead at 27 | Boing Boing

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Neckbeard assholes

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People can be inhumane and cruel. Especially online where you never have to face the person who is on the receiving end of toxicity.

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@beschizza

Not naming or linking that toxic-ass site would probably be better; no sense in giving them any oxygen.

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I wouldn’t have but for Near doing so in their note. Perhaps by naming them an example might be made, against the odds.

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Somehow, I really doubt it.

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Cloudflare provides hosting and DDOS protection for them, but recently kicked off 8chan and Daily Stormer after it got too hot for them. So there are some achievable goals around naming and shaming here, I think.

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I hope so.

Hasn’t there been at least one other instance of someone taking their own life because of harassment from that site?

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Chloe Sagal

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I have seen some claims that there have been more suicides because of that site, but they weren’t as high profile.

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This looks like a sad life to believe happiness is zero-sum

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Near was not 27 years old, [they were] (approximately) 38. Just thought I’d post that correction. <3

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I’m not sure what that has to do with people being bullied to death? Can you clarify?

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Vice Gaming’s Patrick Klepek, who did a lengthy interview feature with Near when they dropped their Bahamut Lagoon translation, wrote a thoughtful piece on Near’s passing, offering some context from the time they were collaborating on the story, celebrating the work of this talented programmer, and condemning the abusive troll farm that abused them.

Note: In the article, Klepel notes that Near was “almost 40” when completing their Bahamut Lagoon translation, which fits with the timeline of their programming a technically complex emulator in the early 2000s. I don’t see any sources confirming that Near was only 27 years old.

Maybe Bob read a poorly-worded report of the date of Near’s death, which was on the 27th?

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The best interpretation of that is the idea that That Website exists as sort of a terrible drain on the world, dragging people down to try and improve their lot.

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Entirely possible, but I’d like clarification from @fabiocosta0305 to be sure.

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Misgendering is not tolerated on this web site, just FYI.

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My apologies. This was a legitimate mistake on my part and was not intended to upset, negate, or do harm. <3

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I wasn’t sure if I should say something, but as per the eulogy, it seems only fitting to note that the achievements of BSNES were foremost in the realm of accuracy. The article in Ars is a highlight:

In fact, I can recall how Near expressed frustration about how users kept clinging to comparatively inaccurate and kludgy SNES emulators that were much more well-established before BSNES came along, partly because the system requirements were that much higher, at least at first.

ETA: I was actually thinking of this much older article, but that one’s good too.

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