thatKamGuy
@thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works
- Comment on You know what, fuck you [un-Jags uar icon] 40 minutes ago:
/uj Technically this is their new logo:
J a G U a r is just their new typeface (I think that’s the name?); and apparently/allegedly is to make the pronunciation closer to UK English, rather than American.
Either way, though - it’s still…
/j
…pReTtY fArKiN’ sToOoPiD.
- Comment on In the US, is this actually the moment past the point of no return? 4 hours ago:
There were similar levels of fear and worry when Russia was amassing troops just under the border ahead of their “3-day special operation”. But the truth of the matter is that Russia has shown itself to be a lot weaker as a military force than they purported themselves to be.
Their internal war-time economy is anyway starting to flounder as the >1.5K daily casualties they are amassing is having a noticeable impact on not only military production, but also civilian and agricultural. (‘ Russia economy crumbling with food prices skyrocketing as Putin’s problems mount’ - Express.co.uk).
They are relying heavily on Iran, China and NK to supplement their falling arms production; and are now also needing to supplement their conscript forces with NK forces.
Russia has continually been over-estimated, but don’t doubt for a second that it is being cooked like a frog in a boiling pot in a proxy-war solely using Ukrainian forces.
In the event of a handful of allied European nations joining the war to aid Ukraine, Russia would be expelled from the region quite quickly - but at the cost of additional human lives, which is why the escalations have been so slow.
- Comment on In the US, is this actually the moment past the point of no return? 5 hours ago:
Honestly it sounds like Sino fear-mongering or Tankie wishful thinking.
It’s easy to forget because it’s made up of a multitude of smaller countries - but Europe has a population of ~750m, and a vastly more coherent and powerful combined military (even if the US were to pull out of NATO).
Russia can’t currently steam-roll one nation, how on Earth do you think they’d do anything against Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland - all countries with a deeply (& rightfully) ingrained distrust/hatred of Russia.
China isn’t likely to risk making themselves an international outcast just to aid Russia - they are more likely to make a play for Taiwan than anything else.
- Comment on In the US, is this actually the moment past the point of no return? 5 hours ago:
Not OP; but probably referring to Nixon normalising relations with China; or maybe negotiating with the Viet Cong to prolong the Vietnam War so that he could be elected?; or the whole Watergate fiasco which directly lead to the creation of Fox News… I mean, that man is responsible for a lot of our modern ails.
But if it’s the former, it directly lead to outsourcing production overseas where labour was cheapest, resulting in the gutting of American manufacturing and the entire middle class that depended on it.
I more personally believe that Nixon severely injured the US, but it was Reagan who shot the killing bullet. But that’s honestly a debate for another time.
- Comment on ‘I have lost everything’: southern Africa battles hunger amid historic drought 6 days ago:
Yes, sure that 27m people are at risk of dying due to starvation - but won’t someone please think of the poor shareholders of all of those Petroleum companies?!
- Comment on Apple’s first Mac mini redesign in 14 years looks like a big aluminum Apple TV 3 weeks ago:
It’s not a stupid decision, but a stubborn one.
I’m 100% OK with that; Apple is heavy on design aesthetics. If a user doesn’t like that, they can just use their own preferred mouse - wired or otherwise.
- Comment on More trustworthy than what's currently on the road 1 month ago:
Hmm, I don’t know… I think it needs more VAG-bell.
- Comment on More trustworthy than what's currently on the road 1 month ago:
To borrow Jeremy Clarkson’s joke - VAG do still also make the Porsche 911!
- Comment on "English" 1 month ago:
UK : English (Traditional) US : English (Simplified)
- Comment on PlayStation's Classics Are Quietly Making a Comeback, And It's About Time 1 month ago:
It was called Kurushi here in our neck of the woods; and I’m glad I’m not the only person who still intensely remembers that game from a demo disc.
I ended up picking up a mint copy to add to my collection; well worth it IMO.
- Comment on Indestructible quartz crystal can store 360TB of data for billions of years 1 month ago:
COD developers are actively salivating at the thought!
- Comment on Some basic info about USB 2 months ago:
This is the correct answer; after the whole USB 3.2 Gen 2 2x2 (hands of blue) bullshit, I wouldn’t trust that team to name a park bench in the middle of the desert. Let alone something important and universally used.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "almost all games should cost more at a base level" because they cost so much to make 2 months ago:
Indies are honestly the only thing keeping me in this hobby; well that and retro collecting…
A game like Vampire Survivors has given me hundreds of hours of entertainment and value for a fraction of the cost of a single “AAA” game - even factoring in the handful of expansion packs he’s released.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "almost all games should cost more at a base level" because they cost so much to make 2 months ago:
Corporations are beholden to their shareholders, yes - but the issue is more down to the fact that we seem to have forgotten that shareholders have the intellect of a toddler… give them free reign and they’ll eat pure sugar for dinner and then complain about a tummy ache.
The line can still go up by delivering quality experiences (as mentioned elsewhere: BG3, RDR2 & hopefully GTA6); by taking care of your stakeholders (which includes employees and customers), it results in higher long-term returns for everyone.
But again, shareholders are toddlers and the current system is giving them free rein.
- Comment on Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "almost all games should cost more at a base level" because they cost so much to make 2 months ago:
Provide me with a complete experience out-of-the-box as an end-user (you know how it should be done, developers - it’s the way things were before the PS3/XBox 360 era), don’t try to nickel & dime me with ‘micro-transactions’ or ‘battle passes’, or scam me with multiple ‘expansions’ every year… and then, and only then, we can talk.
$60 USD in 2000 is worth about $110 now; so there’s room to negotiate - but it needs to be in good faith, and I don’t trust publishers to do so currently.
- Comment on World Of Warcraft's latest expansion The War Within is live, adding a new continent, hero talents and Delves 2 months ago:
I’ve been clean since the second year of Shadowlands; Dragonflight was literally the first expansion I hadn’t played at all (I’ve usually played at least a year of every other one before that)…
…can’t lie that I haven’t vicariously followed the goings-on through YouTube videos, and that TWW has seemed quite promising from multiple angles to the point that I have been tempted to.
However, like my initial dabble with Classic (and anything addictive, really) - things don’t hit quite like they used to… and I’d rather leave myself with positive memories, rather than risk getting slapped in the face with cold, hard reality.
- Comment on What are some game series you would like to see revived? And if possible, which entry should the new game follow from? 2 months ago:
I’d love to see a modern take on Cannon Fodder, as well as another entry in the Desert/Urban/Soviet/Nuclear Strike series.
Lastly, there was a very fun demo/mod to Sensible Soccer for the Amiga that set the match between UK and Germany, and replaced the ball with a bomb that would periodically explode and eliminate any nearby players. I’d live to see a modern-day version of this, honestly - just some goofy fun!
…and yes, I am fully aware of just how old this makes me all sound.
- Comment on What are some game series you would like to see revived? And if possible, which entry should the new game follow from? 2 months ago:
In a similar vein to another commenter wanting a pre-Paradise style Burnout; I’d like another NFS:U entry, but honestly am so over ‘open world’ racing games… give me a good ol’ fashioned menu any day of the week!
- Comment on What are some game series you would like to see revived? And if possible, which entry should the new game follow from? 2 months ago:
I liked the ending of FC5, and think that it lead rather well into the subsequent New Dawn expansion pack.
On the other hand, while I also loved FC3 - I couldn’t get into FC4 at all…
I guess we can conclude that Far Cry is just a very strange series that seems to alienate its fans just about as often as it attracts them!
- Comment on Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. 2 months ago:
Custom OS isn’t going to address the anaemic hardware, nor do I think relying on open-source custom ROMs for a niche item is the best way to ensure any hardware-level vulnerabilities are covered.
If you already have an Internet-connected device hooked up to your TV (eg. PlayStation); there is no need to connect another, especially when it provides an overall worse experience.
Shit, a basic HTPC is infinitely better - using a Linux-based distribution (which will have a lot more support vs. a niche TV ROM), and it’ll be supported well beyond what the hardware could handle.
- Comment on Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. 2 months ago:
I also agree, but I view it more as ‘I bought a TV, and that’s all I want it to be’.
I don’t care about the built in software features foisted on me because I wanted an OLED panel; simply because they are going to be abandoned within 1-2 years, are powered by some anaemic chipset that is already multiple generations behind what is already available in my TV stand; and will likely end up as an attack vector to my network some period down the road.
The article mentions that TV manufacturers make ~$5 a quarter from selling your data. So those ‘features’ aren’t even free, they come at the expense of your personal information, privacy and likely security as a result.
So to quote a famous Dave Chapelle skit: “fuck ‘em, that’s why!”
- Comment on Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. 2 months ago:
Because it’s not actually necessary; leave the TV isolated from the internet and use a set-top box (Apple TV, Shield, game console) as the media player.
- Comment on What's your financial cutoff point on game collecting? 3 months ago:
PAL/R4 PS1/2/3 & PSP collector here; there’s no hard & fast cut-off rule.
But I would need to have a deep and personal connection to the title, and it would need to meet a number of requirements (case type, game variant, CIB, disc scratches etc.).
Even then, I’m still going to struggle to part with >$1,000 dollarydoos for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Special Edition!
- Comment on Time Crisis GunCon PlayStation Controller 3 months ago:
Not to hijack this post, but does anyone know or have a definitive list of which titles came bundled with a G-Con45?
The Ghoul Panic bundle in good condition is my collection’s white whale…
- Comment on Tesla loses EV market dominance, falls below 50% in US [unit sales in 2024Q2] 4 months ago:
Not a fan of the Ioniq6 design personally, but I know where you’re coming from; I’m obsessed with the Abarth 500e Scorpionissima in acid green! 🤤
- Comment on Microsoft bans China-based employees from using Android devices for work, mandates switch to iPhones 4 months ago:
Fair enough; it’s a bit vaguely worded and could be interpreted multiple ways.
From my experience, big corporations have always either provided me with company-issued phones for official use, or offered an additional allowance if I’ve opted to use my own personal device.
Then again, given how absolutely absurd some of Microsoft’s recent decisions have been (eg. Recall) - you can’t really be certain.
- Comment on Microsoft bans China-based employees from using Android devices for work, mandates switch to iPhones 4 months ago:
That’s my read of it, or am I misunderstanding something?
Microsoft will purchase for their Android using employees an iPhone 15. The reference to one-time being that employees are only entitled to one, in the event they were to lose or damage it?
- Comment on Google Maps tests new pop-up ads that give you an unnecessary detour 4 months ago:
Huh, TIL - thanks!
I’ve updated my original comment to reflect this.
- Comment on Google Maps tests new pop-up ads that give you an unnecessary detour 4 months ago:
The only thing Apple Maps lacks now is a Waze-like ability to report hazards, speed-traps, road closures etc. along with the active user base required to crowd source the datapoints.
- Comment on Real 4 months ago:
Getting loans for things is part of the reason why it’s expensive being poor.
The average US credit card charges ~22% interest and there are a crap-tonne of sub-prime loans that prey on desperate people that charge a hell of a lot more than that! A ‘cheap’ $500 dryer will end up costing close to double that by the time the loan ends up paid off.
This isn’t a ‘have you tried just not being poor?’ comment; I’ve been in a similar position for the entirety of my 20s and a good chunk of my 30s, before I learned that there was nothing wrong with going against consumer culture and buying an older, quality second hand product.
Becoming financially mature is probably the most painful part of becoming an adult, in multiple senses of the word.
