More Lego.
“Japanese police arrest suspect making ‘constant threats’ toward Nintendo”
“Matthews told IGN the studio has established an audience for shorter games.”
“Is There Any Hope Tech Billionaires Will Actually Build a New City in California?”
Friday Afternoon Links
About The Author
Riven
[riv-uhn]
noun
1. a gaming, lifting, shooting, intoxicated, ravenous, and happily-taken nerd.
2. often aims to misbehave.
3. and though she be but little, she is fierce.*
And rumor has it that she (and her husband) are also delightful dinner companions. You didn't hear it from me, though.
Did anyone like the new starfield game? Seems to have dropped of.
(i have not played it)
I’m in the “Not really” camp. I think I have about 2 or 3 hours into it – I was exploring the first planet… and I just kept finding myself thinking: “Oh, its a Fallout mechanic. Its a Skyrim mechanic…” and then “Oh wait… this supposed other scientific outpost is the exact same as this other site on the planet… are these all ‘procedurally generated’?” … “Oh.. there’s no real notes or lore or anything…”
I just frankly got bored (and admittedly I hadn’t really started the main storyline) with it, exited out and never bothered to go back. And everything I’ve heard since says I wasn’t wrong to do so so I still haven’t bothered.
Exactly my experience. I got maybe 3-4 hours in and noticed everything I did had a “been there, done that” feeling. Bethesda has been making the same game since Oblivion came out in 2006.
Starfield is a framework with a potential for a game, but feels so empty because they overextended the procedural stuff with too few crafted assets.
That 1st link is the most Japanese of crimes I’ve seen.
Given the 1930s, I can’t blame the Japanese for taking folks who make ‘constant threats’ seriously.
*nods in Shinzo Abe*
Um… why should we care? Barring having personal investment in the project, I suppose… I mean, I don’t care if any other housing development moves forward far away from my town… this one is no different.
Disney built a town called Celebration. I expect the same thing but with more electronic gizmos. And maybe a big wall around it, to keep out the homeless and the migrants (this is California after all).
Housing is too expensive, but don’t build any more housing.
Yeah, I don’t “care” but I really want to see it happen. But I suspect the state won’t let them do anything they might want to do, so there’s that.
Let’s see what the eggheads come up with.
Is Richard Night one of the tech billionaires?
My takeaway was, “Wow, this author hasn’t heard of company towns.”
I just want to give some big kudos to Riven for using the proper plural of Lego in the caption.
/and that BTAS set does tempt me.
Does this rule apply to Eggo Waffles?
Shouldn’t Harley have a big whonking hammer though? She barely used a gun in BTAS that I remember.
A bazooka from time to time, sure… but not often a gun. (“JJ — fetch Mommy’s bazooka!” is a line that sticks with you for some reason…)
I’d think a hammer or a baseball bat would fit Harley better, but a gun isn’t that out of line for her. Besides, it’s not like you couldn’t give the gun to the Joker.
Sure — after all, that’s also how they did it in his day…
I do not submit to Danish masters. Legos or GTFO.
Even when they’re trying to help breweries?
This man gets it.
Legos my Legos!
I was worried it was going to be this.
Goddammit.
I prefer the new version.
“A standard grocery shopping trip for some of us.”
I thought for sure it would be this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrwjiO1MCVs
Ya know, Im a big fan. Really I am.
But was is Perry Ferrall so fuckin’ weird ?
Perfect.
I managed to drag myself down to the shop to perform a task. It’s a cold and dreary day, and while I was down there, I could hear intermittent rain squalls on the tin roof. As I was finishing up, I said to myself, well, at least I don’t hear any rain. When I opened the door, it was snowing.
Haha, springtime in the Rockies.
There were flurries here just a bit ago.
Not exactly the Rockies though.
That’s it… keep taunting those of us who are stuck in states with 10 months of “sunny, clear and boring” and 2 months of “rain if you’re lucky”…
Yesterday it was snowing in Boston.
Yeah we had six or seven straight days of rain that turned to snow yesterday.
I got a pic of the roaring creek behind my apartment that is normally kind of dry looking.
Snow on the hills here in the Bay Area.
Snow on Mt. Diablo?
Hell has frozen over.
We’ve had enough, looks like the snow has left us. I dug around in the garden, still a little frost in places. I cleaned up a little, got the tomato cages out of the ground. No hurry, still several weeks before we can mostly be sure of frost free.
We keep getting assailed by bouts of……GRAUPEL!!
AKA Dippin’ Dots.
The future is here.
*has flashback to a mall in 1996*
The front range had no spring or fall, just a violent oscillation between summer and winter.
From the dead thread:
“The report suggests managers identify and address inclusion challenges by making sure workers feel listened to, whether that means one-on-one conversations or third-party feedback portals, as well as clearly communicating the company’s overall DEI objectives and expectations. Oakes emphasizes that the biggest driver in getting workers on board with diversity goals is education.”
Translation: you’ll get on board with us being the right kind of racist, if we just explain it harder to you. And it’s not racist. And it’s a necessary kind of racism — even though it’s the opposite of racism. Get on board with being doubleplus goodthinkful, Comrade!
I’ve point blank been in one of these (non DEI) conversations and asked, is the decision made?
If the answer is yes I said I see no point continuing the “discussion”. Management was taken aback, but I think actually happy the conversation was done.
“Start slideshow”
*taps out*
“How climate change is hitting vulnerable Indonesian trans sex workers”
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/indonesian-transgender-climate-change-bandung-b2522422.html#comments-area
“Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and trans women, who tend to face more stigma and marginalisation than trans men or other LGBTQ+ Indonesians, are also among those hardest hit by extreme weather.”
Jesus Fucking Christ, this shit is tiring.
Animal got a good headline out of it.
pay walled
Sorry… I broke down and tossed them some funds a while back, didn’t notice.
The headline in question:
*guffaw*
That’s real?
I watched a movie last night called “The Jesus Trip”. Early ’70s biker gang movie. It’s actually not terrible, as bikersploitation movies go.
But anyway- I, being me, spent the first 20 minutes of the movie fixated on how skinny the tires were on those old school choppers.
Given the age of Twiggy, I was expecting a different “how skinny” when I glanced at your comment.
Check out the tires on the SOTA Kawi Triples and Z1000s in Mad Max. Old powerful bikes were like old muscle cars. Fun because they were scary: Lots of go, no slow, can’t take a corner, vibration, and lets not forget shitty and skinny tires.
https://www.bikebound.com/2023/07/23/kwaka/
The rear tire on that Z1000 is skinnier than the front tire on my RR…
I like dude’s bubble shield on that helmet.
I am starting to see skinny tires on Harleys around here, ones with some light customizing.
Shopping trip
I prefer overnight shopping at Target.
the biggest driver in getting workers on board with diversity goals is education
That’s not how you spell “indoctrination”.
Level playing field
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on China on Friday to address manufacturing overcapacity that she said risks causing global economic dislocation, and to create a level playing field for American companies and workers.
Starting a five-day visit in one of China’s major industrial and export hubs, she raised what the U.S. considers to be unfair Chinese trade practices in talks with senior Chinese officials.
“The United States seeks a healthy economic relationship with China that benefits both sides,” she said ahead of a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and the central bank governor and other officials in the southern city of Guangzhou. “But a healthy relationship must provide a level playing field for firms and workers in both countries.”
Earlier, she said at an an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China that “Chinese practices … are tilting the playing field away from American workers and firms.”
We could always try making it easier to innovate and produce in this country, but that’s probably not what she means.
Say would disagree but he’s not an economist compared to Janet
From the AM Links thread: “Odds on the usual suspects blaming it on Climate Change?”
https://twitter.com/Christina4NJ/status/1776266970226204841
LOL! The oppo campaign commercials write themselves.
Another one. https://twitter.com/lindagaudinoNBC/status/1776277901756846516
I’m going to spend the weekend writing a computer model that links climate change to earthquakes. The toughest part will probably be to eliminate the correlation of cheese consumption and people dying tangled in bed sheets. But when I’m done I can probably get a few million of those Biden climate change bucks.
If it works, you must write an article on it so we can all retire.
She is really Kaliling it.
High on Yellen’s list is the overcapacity issue. Chinese government subsidies and other policy support have encouraged solar panel and EV makers in China to invest in factories, building far more production capacity than the domestic market can absorb.
The massive scale of production has driven down costs and ignited price wars for green technologies, a boon for consumers and efforts to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels. But Western governments fear that that capacity will flood their markets with low-priced exports, threatening American and European jobs.
We need to force the Chinese to buy our overpriced crap. At gunpoint, preferably.
Has anyone tried to sell them cylindrical solar cells?
Lagavulin on a perfect afternoon
10th anniversary with NewWife tomorrow
best wishes to you all
🥳
⬆ What he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frbsZ8TGsX8
Congrats, Don.
When does NewWife become wifeofrecord?
Congratulations to Don Escaped OldWife!
Congrats to you!
Citing a recent survey by the Chamber that found that a third of American firms in China say they have experienced unfair treatment compared with local competitors, Yellen said the U.S. has seen China “pursue unfair economic practices, including imposing barriers to access for foreign firms and taking coercive actions against American companies.”
Now tell us what Biden said about Nippon Steel.
60,000 acres in CA, or really anywhere, for $800,000 seems cheap.
“Can climate change play a role in the frequency of earthquakes? ”
Might wanna check and see where it is exactly, water access, taxes, title….just sayin’.
Geez…first sentence was an aborted comment. Second a reply to Dr. Otto.
“Can climate change play a role in the frequency of earthquakes? ”
Ask those people from Pompei if their wood stoves caused that volcano to cover them in ash.
Every pizza is a personal pizza if you just believe in yourself.
To quote Tonio: thing-a-ma-tude
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87821224358?pwd=eW55MTRDbDNtQkh2aHd3M1Nmenlzdz09
Already?
Speaking of American competitiveness
The United Auto Workers union has stepped up the pace on its march south.
On Friday, Mercedes workers in Vance, Ala., filed a petition with federal labor officials for a union election — a first for workers at that plant. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., will begin voting in their union election in less than two weeks.
The surge in union interest follows the UAW’s strike against the Big 3 automakers last fall, which led to record contracts.
“We started signing [union] authorization cards Thanksgiving weekend, and it just stacked up quick,” says Jeremy Kimbrell, who’s worked for Mercedes for 24 years, starting out in the paint shop in 1999. “It was like workers were starving for it, and it took off.”
That should keep BYD at bay.
Full Discloser : I’m a dues paying member of of the IAFF.
I don’t think there is anything inherently unlibertarian about consolidating your resources to negotiate with a much more powerful (economically speaking) employer The problem is when union executive staff start doing the things everyone associates with unions, the admin take over and funnel money to themselves and their pet political projects. And usually the admin people fucking the workers do not actually have any skin in the game (in my case, prior to Ed Kelly taking over, Harold Schaitberger was a guy with almost no real world experice but wanted to be a politician and almost destroyed our union.)
anyway, unions are not necessarily bad and can be a net positive. but assholes.
OmniRide faces $16 million budget shortfall in Prince William, fueled by rising transit costs
It’s not the first report I’ve read of the bill coming due now that the free money is drying up. Democrats need to get those helicopters flying again.
A few things have happened lately (last 35 years) that I did not expect. Maybe I just did not notice it before?
It seems there are large numbers of people unable to distinguish reality from the imaginary.
Video games and movie franchises are not real. The worlds they are set in do not exist. The characters that inhabit them do not exist. The laws of physics and the psychology of the characters do not resemble those of the real world. One is meant to suspend disbelief for a short period of time and enjoy the adventure, an escape from actual reality, to let off steam. Then one returns their mind rationally to the actual universe that does exist.
Attacking game companies over….what? They lost at a game? rules changed they didn’t like? What could be the possible motive here? They have let imaginary bullshit that exists only in their heads cause them to create havoc in the real world. I am reminded of the creepy, scary guys that think their personal emotional state means everyone else, but usually an imagined girlfriend, have forfeited their self-ownership because the dude has feelings. “You cant leave me cuz I feel stuff!” Yeah….that’s not how that works dude. “You have to think/feel/want/do what I say cuz I … insert whatever the fuck here…! Those are the guyss that get angry or violent at the drop of a hat.
Now we have, and I have known some, that lose control of their emotions and behavior over something that does not exist. Whether you win or lose or if Shparff and Xulifart can levitate or be invisible or live in the hollow earth or not has no bearing whatsoever on real life. Getting excited about it is nuts.
Most organic mental illnesses are inherent but this one is definitely induced.
See also the article on climate change (imaginary boogeyman) hitting trannies (deluded lunatics) hardest.
Ugh, and Jaime’s link above. No matter how much information you give them they cannot draw a sensible conclusion.
Never mind grocery prices, cost of energy, whittling away of the economy problems, ever more violated natural rights, let us distract our victims with a bunch of will-o-the-wisps.
It’s the weekend, have some coarse humor.
The allergies! oh! The humanity! Calgon, take me away!
Apparently some more shaking going on in the region.
Still haven’t felt it personally.
And we all always thought it would be CA to go first…
#meneither
Gutfeld and “The Five” had some giggles today over the “we survived an earthquake” attitude of those “tough” New Yorkers.
“Oh, shit, a vase fell off the mantle! We could have been killed!”
Chris Christie is home. Tell him to stop walking to the fridge.
My wife felt that one. I was in the basement and felt nothing.
My dream died, and now I’m here
She tried, but nobody really managed to establish correlation & causation.
Local news here (NBC station in Albany) tried to make the same connection.
Linda Gaudino. Despite her freakishly-wide The Joker mouth…..would.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for this thread.
Upon the closing moments, a story about P Diddy and how he will shortly be suicided.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sean-diddy-combs-former-bodyguard-claims-music-mogul-had-tapes-politicians-and-princes