As a fan of HR and MD, I have the original purchased on GOG, but I’ve never played it. Are there any quality of life mods I should know before I drive in?

All software is political, riddled with biases and potential security risks. Most of the time we ignore the policy of the software, because we either agree with that policy, or are conditioned not to clock it as a “policy”, because “this is just Common Sense™”.

I suspect, if the author would have been more honest with themselves, they’d write something along the lines of “turns out, software is a platform for political action, and it scares me” - an opinion that is very valid, valuable and thought-provoking.

The future’s wasteland will be covered by bodies of web stalkers who were naive enough to get tricked by mid-2010s shitposts.

“Turns out they never used this to make their metal cutlery darker - who would have thought the ancients were so casually cruel?”

“After months of research we have concluded, that despite all their technical achievements, the ancients never figured out, what does the fox say”

“Today prof. Drobyshevsky is going to tell us about their newest work in XXI cent. anthropology - what is ‘streamer dent’ and why do we have such long heads 2300 years later?”

“Ass, coochie and the rich - dietary practices of homo sapiens in the age of over-production”

Hey this one looks exactly like what I expected to get, thanks!

Gyro has been present in Sony controllers since Dualshock 3. All of the Nintendo controllers I ever used had it. Steam deck has it. I honestly assumed it is a standard feature.

Rovio lawyers be like

Nanomachines, son!

Back in 2011 I already felt that there should be some sort of easy-to-follow hygiene to maintain around mass media, especially internet. You know, like we hide our coughs and sneezes, maintain healthy distance around people, wash our hands, use slippers in communal pools. I should probably look up if someone smarter has already done the work.

As someone who has built a career in building and maintaining digital services, a lot of what Carmen talks about rings very true to me, especially this part:

“The platforms make money based on the time we spend on them, and they don’t hesitate to use unethical, addictive resources, so how are you going to ask a 10-year-old or a 13-year-old to stop, if it’s even hard for us adults?”

I’ve struggled with social media and technology addiction myself, so in my mind, allowing a child a smartphone is akin to teaching them how to smoke - that is how toxic and generally “bad-for-your-health” modern internet is, I think.

At the same time, I am not (yet) a parent, so I really don’t know how am I going to be making such a decision when the time comes.

I think this is a fun concept, I would definitely play something like this! I suspect it could be just as fun to build. Game like this could be extended in another direction: I always dreamed of a game that would let me cleverly sabotage a powerplant or delivery network to achieve some other goal, like a heist.

Y’all just have no idea how complicated the process is. In 2004 it was OK to just “ship a working game”, - in 2023 you have to include all of the software stacks you have partnering contracts with, deploy an entire cloud infrastructure to deliver updates and short purchases, design and launch automated targeted ads campaigns, pay union-busting lawyers, accommodate for all the “fun” senile execs want to put in the game, pay handsome compensation to these senile execs, pay more lawyers to bury workplace toxicity-related incidents. At the end of the day, you have to sustain the company somehow when 95% of your workforce goes on a sick leave after a 3-month-long crunch period. All of that takes money, time and effort. And y’all don’t get a lot of time in-between autumn release windows.

Hey, we’ve been at it for 20 years, and we have just managed two months of 16-hour workdays without anyone dying, it looks like it might be one of those projects we actually manage to ship - what an important internal milestone!

PS: I don’t actually work at Ubisoft, I love my life too much - this entire comment is a satire

Humor can be read in various ways, the author’s public statements and policy paints a cringey picture, unfortunately. I am not a trans person myself, so the tastefulness of this humor is hard for me to judge. Still, this particular episode has left a bad taste, even if the show as a whole cracks me up. Doesn’t help that I am growing into a huge Matt Berry fan

I used to love this show until that one transphobic episode. After watching that I looked up the main show writer and learned that he is huge piece. Such disappointment.

Fascinating, as a developer, where can I read more/contribute?

Was just about to comment the same thing. Unix philosophy should be taught in schools. Every high schooler that doesn’t experience education-induced gag reflex when they see Windows is failed by the system.

Trying to get into Baldurs Gate 3. Never played the original games, never played D&D, and this is the first hardcore RPG of this sort I’ve played in awhile.

It is a bit of a struggle - the game is intimidatingly big and deep. I am also having troubles wrapping my head around the battle systems, and the random skill checks really don’t make much sense to me (am I expected to save scam in this game?)

But all that seems to be a question of habit. I went into the game for the joy of exploration and discovery, and I hope to lose myself in it very soon.

Are you sure you are addicted? I’m sorry, but to me it seems like you only have a problem with games that are deliberately designed to be addictive (WoW is basically a giant Skinner box, no wonder). In that case you would be just as susceptible to lots of things: like infinite-scrolling feeds on social networks, or recommendation algorithms on TikTok and YT.

Maybe if you find a way to filter out games that exploit your psyche for engagement, there will be a way to enjoy your very clearly beloved hobby in a healthy way?

Also, have you talked to a professional?

Where I am from, when they play this game, every other tap lands on a jaw. Very fun, many friendships were established in the trauma room after these games.

The big finale with cracks in the screen always gets me crying pearl-sized tears. Even when watching someone else play, just can’t help it.

Also, the scene at the lost escape pod in Dark Bramble. Also, the inside of the Interloper. So many hard-hitting moments in this game.

The wretch, of course! Gonna respec into a mad dervish poet, wielding bloodhound’s fang and flames of frenzy once we clear the Academy.

Me and my spouse are getting back into Elden Ring. Created a new character and chosen a build that’s enjoyable for both of us, so we sit on a couch, passing the controller back and forth, exploring, doing quests, reading lore and praising the Erdtree. Good Times!

Knowing Typescript is enough to begin and start a career, you are sure to pick up relevant vanilla JS knowledge along the way. There is no way around JS: you’ll see it in tooling, debugging, building etc.

Of course you can really focus and grok everything way in advance, but I would argue it’s not necessary.

I use Ferris Sweep. It’s an ergo-split with a vertical key stagger, 34 keys, low profile. Open source, you can assemble it wired, or with some nice!nano controllers and batteries - completely wireless.

If you’re not into soldering and flashing controllers, you can order it pre-made from crafty persons on the internets.

I started using it because most other keyboards give me wrist pain due to a medical issue I have. 34 keys might be tight for most people, but if you’re ok with configuring some layers, you’ll be good.

I am going to recommend, perhaps, my favorite game of all time, Outer Wilds from the studio Mobius Games.

But please please promise to go in completely blind. Your awareness and knowledge of the world is the key mechanic, so almost any info not only spoils the mystery, but also robs you of literal measurable minutes in gameplay.

All I can say - it is a very touching first-person immersive stimulation game in space about, essentially, alien archeology. Expect wonder, discovery, some frights, have your mind completely blown every 10-20 minutes. It will probably make you cry a couple times as well.

It is one of those games when, after finishing it, you immediately get sad because you will never experience it again in the same way. So you start annoying everyone into playing it, just to enjoy discussing it and seeing someone else play.

And the DLC is equally awesome.