I just realized I haven’t played an EA game in over a decade. SW Battlefront II was the last one, and it felt like a downgrade from the 2005 version.

I mean, are there any of their titles that have made an impact in the last decade? I can’t think of any other than sports and racing games.

So, ICE is trying to dox folks:

The effort has swept up U.S. citizens and activist groups that track ICE activity, with contractors assembling dossiers that can include a poster’s name, birth date, employer, Social Security number and vehicle records. To identify anonymous accounts, the Department of Homeland Security has sent hundreds of subpoenas to social media companies, and recently escalated to grand jury subpoenas that are harder to fight.

Meanwhile…

The administration now treats organized doxxing of officers as domestic terrorism, a label it has stretched to cover filming agents at work. ICE spending on surveillance tools and consultants hit $258 million in Trump’s first full year back, a 57% jump.

I’d point out the hypocrisy if it weren’t so depressingly obvious.

When speaking to the oppressor, its best to do so in their language lest your intent be lost in translation or to a knee-jerk rejection based on the implications of a particular term.

The question was not directed to Australians nor to fellow travelers such as yourself, rather to the various operatives of the CCP that are likely monitoring this post.

They’ve yet to reply at the time of this writing… better hurry up Xinne the Pooh, my popcorn is getting cold.

Explain to me how erasure of an ethic identity is not considered ethnic cleansing?

And when you realize you can’t, then explain to me why I, as a citizen of another country, should uphold your law designed to ethnically cleanse your nation within my borders?

I’m very glad that I decided to grow my own lettuce on a whim this year.

Turns out it’s pretty easy to grow. I used a packet of Dollar Store seeds and have had the best lettuce of my life for the last 3 months (and still going):

https://www.almanac.com/plant/lettuce

Soundtrack for my space bros

I didn’t mean to imply that the dementia is new, it’s just too evident to hide to even the most dedicated of his followers at this point, and this particular case made it very apparent. The Project 2025 bigwigs just want to get the case out of the news cycle because there’s no positive way to spin it, and the more attention Trump gives it, the more damage it does to their plans.

Once its out of the news cycle, he’ll forget about it, unless they need another distraction from the Epstein files and decide to remind him.

They know he’s disintegrating, and likely only has a few months before he’s rendered incapable of functioning. The contractor was a political crony of Trump’s who has little to no influence within the Project 2025 framework, and the blatant injustice of the trial was eroding confidence in the DOJ - which Project 2025 needs to push it’s agenda.

Pirro will take Trump’s heat for a bit until he forgets about it, and then proceed to implement the rest of Project 2025’s goals like a good little soldier. The contractor was an easy sacrifice, and Trump cares more about the public embarrassment than bailing out a crony who made him look a fool on the national stage.

Trump’s loyalists aren’t turning on him. They’re waiting out his dementia while they implement the Project 2025 agenda, and making sure he doesn’t completely torch the place before the new boss has a chance to take over.

Sometimes… Cyberpunk 2077 at launch is one example where the supposed optimization was less than optimal.

The other element is that it’s easy to get locked out of updates if the developer chooses not to support them on console. For instance, L4D2 on the Xbox 360 is absolutely gimped in comparison to PC, where it has new official campaigns and a thriving modding ecosystem 15+ years after launch… an ecosystem an Xbox 360 user can’t touch.

The PC is more money up front, but drastically cheaper over the lifetime of the product. It’s also more versatile, and capable of upgrading along with almost infinite backwards compatibility for older titles.

Consoles will be a couple of hundred (or thousand, depending on the PC you chose) cheaper, but you are forced to buy games within its ecosystem, usually at full retail price - a library of 10 AAA games will cost $600 on console, where you can get the same library on Steam for half or less of than that by simply keeping an eye on sales. The console won’t be upgradeable. You cannot easily pirate games, and there’s no such thing as DRM free gaming. And backwards compatibility is janky or simply removed for most consoles.

The only place consoles really win out is in live social gaming - it’s a lot easier to get a group of friends to play PS5 on the couch than it is to get them to play PC on the couch. Aside from that, though, it’s sort of like comparing a tricycle to a Harley… yeah, they’re both bikes, but the differences become real clear once you get out on the road.

This isn’t about AI - that’s just an excuse.

What they really didn’t want was a Tribble infestation, and well, given your username…you can see why they might want you to keep your distance…

Translation:

They’re gutting any sort of science that provides benefits to people (life sciences, environmental, social) and putting the money into technology that is designed to control and hurt people (computer science = AI, while physical science and engineering = military application).

At least that’s my take. Feels like they intentionally left the memorandum as vague as possible.

He’ll have one if he runs out of heroin.

It would be really nice if folks understood that authoritarianism will always ultimately oppress them, regardless of which ideology it serves.

And it would be doubly awesome if we could deconstruct those ideologies, take from each what works for the betterment of humanity, and build a way out of this ass backwards dystopia instead of shrieking “TankiE!” “FaCisT!!” “WoKE!” at each other.

But that might be a little too much to expect from a world full of hairless apes.

I once held PCs in higher regard than consoles, and still do.

-Mitch Hedberg’s ghost probably

Beat me too it.

You rat bastard…

This took me down a rabbit hole regarding air purifiers and mercury vapor. It turns out that conventional air purifiers won’t don’t do anything - you need activated carbon, potassium permanganate, or sulfur-impregnated carbon to properly capture the vapor.

Looks like these models might do the trick. They run at about $1k a pop.

Also, TIL what mercury vapor does to humans:

Mercury vapor released from coal emissions enters the air and can have serious health effects when inhaled.

Acute (short-term) exposure at high levels can damage the lungs, mouth, and respiratory tract, and may lead to respiratory failure and death

Chronic (long-term) exposure, even at lower levels, is linked to:

Neurological effects such as tremors, insomnia, memory loss, headaches, cognitive and motor dysfunction, and neuromuscular effects

Cardiovascular harm, including an increased risk of heart attacks

Damage to the kidneys, liver, and immune system

Exposure during pregnancy can result in developmental issues for the fetus, including mental retardation and seizures

A if it’s a cube. B if it’s beans.

Edit: Obligatory bean tax