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David Gaider made that musical game this year. Stray Gods

since burton got a few recent mentions, am sharing one o' our favorites also, am not expecting @Bartimaeus opinion about frankenweenie to change, but ff to 5:56 to see the original short film which resulted in burton being fired by disney. HA! Good Fun!

I'm still half asleep and with the way the embed displayed, I read the title as "Dine Hard". Now I'm disappointed it's not that.

Mask of the Rose, a VN set in Fallen London universe, where you play a door-to-door surveyor with highly inappropriate questions and equally inappropriate notions to romance the sh†t out of anything they encounter. As a VN it lives and dies by writing, and it does deliver. Along the way it got obvious you'll need multiple playthroughs each focusing on 1-2 characters to get everything out of lore and stuff, not that I mind, because setting and lore is really fun to read and new runs with different characters already read surprisingly different, also I met a couple of new characters I didn't encounter in 1st playthrough. I didn't solve the whodunit either and that won't do at all. 🧐 Made me dust off my old Fallen London characters I abandoned because the game got too grindy, wonder how I'll fare this time, I also want to go back to Sunless Sea...where, hm, I also stalled because of grind. Probably should look into some anti-grind mods if there are any. Oh and I romanced...something...that's likely a very big bat? Which is fine, because, a) it's normal-ish by Fallen London standards, b) if a big bat is good enough for Sadie Frost and Monica Belucci, it's good enough for me.

It’s perpetually in my “to play” folder. All that tall made me dip into Talos Principle1. Not feeling it right now. I find puzzle games difficult to enjoy. It feels you need to slog through a lot of tutorial before you get to do puzzles (though to defence of Talos they already introduces stars, that seem to require thinking to get!). Still, rather well designed so far. I plan on sticking with it, as I can see it getting great later on.

in case anybody is interested, made-in has a couple o' pre black friday deals including discounts on a few o' their most popular cookware selections. also, while have mentioned we believe lodge has a fantastic selection o' enameled dutch ovens and there is no good reason to spend huge money for incremental improvement, there is a staub dutch oven deal worth considering. garage and estate sales is gonna be your best bet for finding a bargain on a piece o' true legacy cookware, but internet shopping is a smidge more convenient. almost everything breville is on sale at amazon. so you can have your kitchen look more like @Gorth's by christmas? HA! Good Fun!

Hope it's on a fault line

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This whole digital ID thingie reveals yet another example of how what is called progress tends to operate. So, it's not only that new things become possible, which does indeed happen and is not a joke as such, but the equally important point is that previous ways of operating and even living tend to become almost impossible or even totally impossible to maintain. For example, if we look at the Romani people whose whole tradition was based on itinerant life, we can see that they were one of great losers in Europe when the current nation states started to come into being. Their whole mode of existence was made quite difficult, through no fault of their own, and indeed, they tend to be poorly educated and in at least some kind of trouble, as a group, pretty much everywhere. They have not changed, and that has not done them any good, in the eyes of the modern world. I can see a future where certain things are indeed quite simple and effective -- but if you happen to be a person who wants to live outside the digital world, your life is going to be hard indeed, because you will not be able to get anything from anywhere (no cash anymore, etc.), and this is likely to make you quite unhappy. In that kind of world, which is at least partly the world we're already in, a personal struggle against "the government" or something may feel heroic and empowering and whatnot, but I'm not at all sure that it does anybody any good.

"Terror tunnel". Ah takes me back to the 9/11 days.

True, but I still like the fact that you have a whole city to explore. Beware though! It's a Russian game so your money goes directly to Putin.

Michelle Clough is the writer of Everreach: Project Eden, she used to work at BioWare. I've not played the game, but I have had it described to me as a Poor Man's Mass Effect. That same studio is about to release another game, Soulslinger: Envoy of Death. I don't know if she's still at the studio and involved in that.

Palestinians could have their coutry 3 times over if they didn't always obstructed its creation...

https://www.gamesradar.com/former-mass-effect-and-dragon-age-lead-launches-new-studio-with-a-focus-on-narrative-and-world-building/ A new studio nicknamed "making games Bruce may like" is here.

The regular puzzles are relatively straightforward until you get deeper into the game and there are more available tools. There are some devilishly tricky star puzzles. Some of those you won't see until later (provided you can find them). I realize I'm giving you the ol' "it gets better later" argument, which I myself am not a fan of, but it is what it is.

If I had a real answer to that, I would nominate myself for a Nobel prize. Not that I care about the title (since that one has largely been politicized these days), but the monetary grant could always come in handy 😇 The only thing I have is observation skills and opinions. But I guess you have to start asking questions somewhere and I do tend to question people, if I think they have entrenched themselves in opinions. For the this part of The Middle East, the options are somewhat limited. The two sides are not equal, since one side is effectively the one in control and calling all the shots (literally and figuratively). Similar to asymmetrical warfare, you have an asymmetrical power balance, where one side has all the soldiers, all the tanks, all the fighter jets and also all "international recognition" from several of the richest and most influential countries. The other side has been living as a defeated and occupied enemy for close to 70 years, without a proper leadership nor infrastructure (Israel has actually worked against any form for centralized Palestinian control since 1948, which doesn't make it easier to have a face to face meeting between leaders, since one side categorically rejects the idea, that the other side could have a leadership, as that would imply something close to statehood. One idea? Support the creation of a *viable* state for the occupied population to call home. People tend to be easier to negotiate with if they feel they have something to lose other than their lives. They haven't had anything to lose the last 2-3 decades. Hence why you can't bargain with "them" (an abstract them), because they don't have central leadership, no sense of identity (other than victims of occupation) and no sense of purpose. Give them something to lose and see if they are willing to make it work?

I'll have you know that this new and wholly original snarky short form video game review series is legally distinct from Zero Punctuation. For one, there's not a single "Z" in the title. Checkmate atheists.

You didn't ask me, but I would simply point out that this is a long-standing conflict that an awful lot of people have tried to work on for decades, some with better intentions than others. I think it's preposterous to assume that anyone here could make a reasonable suggestion other than in the most general terms that ultimately mean nothing. Like: in order to play the piano well, you press the white and black keys so that they make beautiful music. That's true, but that's of no use to anyone. You can make similar statements about the conflict, but they don't mean anything.

And so the most recent development on the Russian border situation in Finland is that our president has made a statement that we must strengthen our borders in the name of national security, even if it means that the individual human rights of some people (i.e. the refugees) will be cast aside. He did stress that this is a dilemma (i.e. security vs. rights) not a lot of people want to face or even talk about. Apparently Russia is seriously planning to start a refugee crisis on its Finnish borders, perhaps something like the situation between Poland and Belarus, for instance. In the winter, it's a lot colder in Finland than it is in Poland, so if Russia leaves the refugees in no man's land, many of them are going to die. Russia is currently helping ID-less people get to the Finnish border, providing them with bicycles and just letting them go. It's not great, but it's classic Russia, so that's where we're at. As a consequence of the war in Ukraine and Finland not playing along with it.

Ok, that's very interesting and I didn't know or at least remember that. So thanks! I did read a bit on the fault lines while I was in New Zealand, but that was a while ago already.

I *think* it's due in statistical terms. Just based on memory, one of the locals told me while I was living there, the Wellington fault line caused major earthquakes on average every 150 years. It's possible to miss it in a lifetime, but I wouldn't make long term investments in property 😁 Bold face by me... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Fault "The Wellington Fault is also capable of producing earthquakes of up to magnitude-8.[1] While a major rupture on the Wellington Fault can be expected anytime in the next 500 years, a significant earthquake on other faults in the Wellington area have a shorter 150 year return time.[3]" I always found walking down Lambdon Quay a bit unsettling, with all the brass plaques saying 'shoreline 1840', because this shopping mall in the city centre was the old waterfront before an earthquake rearranged local geography. I sort of did the math while living there... 1840 + average 150 = approx 1990, so the next chance of become part of some earthquake statistic was 30 years overdue. I almost felt a bit of relief when moving to a geographically stable area 😝 Edit: That should probably read 10-15 years overdue, as I moved to Wellington in 2003 Edit2: They didn't mention that in the job interview 😖

"Due" in plate tectonics, though, can be quite different from "due" on a human timescale.

They just don't do genocide like they used to in the old days... Europeans used to be good at that. No rebellions or uprisings when there is nobody left to rebel or rise up. The world has grown soft... Just kidding of course, but they are still all discussing fighting the symptoms of a problem instead of addressing the cause. Edit: which would be something along the lines of too many people kicked out of their homes with nowhere to go but refugee camps and walled in ghettos and no discernible future. Refugee camps with people that have no home and no future will always be a breeding ground for violent agitators

ok, now keep in mind am not dumping on falco, but the linked video made us recall the following: HA! Good Fun!

I can't put my finger on exactly why, but that video for some reason made me think of OMD. Maybe it's a similar vibe? Similar...ish sound? Meh, for some reason, it just triggered memories of the latter band. Falco... I guess I remember the time period better than the artist I suppose. He did do quite a few hits back then... Der Commissar, Rock me Amadeus, Jeanny etc. One of his last songs (I liked the word play, which does need a bit of knowledge of the language to understand the play on the word "koks", meaning both coke - fuel for heating and cocaine and "kohle" meaning both coal and money depending on context) Some Australian rock/pop band doing a show in some European country (it's not even part of the EU)

The eating of the chicken was fine, it was the cherry tomatoes that gave me pause.

Palantir, not Plantir. Named, of course, after the dangerous and foolish to use seeing stones of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings that drove John Noble to eat some chicken very messily and made Christopher Lee fail his greenhouse gas emission targets spectacularly. It's one of those names where you wonder if Mr Thiel knew about the connotations beforehand or just googled for stuff that would let you see into the future. Fun fact: Mr Thiel bought New Zealand citizenship and is one of the guys who has built a doomsday bunker here.

Since unlimited growth is impossible, the only way to continue to grow (and thus bring value to investors) is to take over other industries. When you run out of industries (or are locked out by bigger players), you have to begin destroying the services the government provides so you can expand into those territories. Education and the Post Office are just the 'low hanging fruit' of this endeavor.

Same here, just that it is also the SVR, our version of the social security number. In addition we have a passport number that is issued when you get a passport (or citizen ID, but passports are universally accepted throughout the world, while the latter is only accepted in the EU and associated nations like Norway and Switzerland), and we also have to register our primary place of residence. There is no need to register for voting or anything of the sort, that happens automatically, you just get a notification in your mail that you bring to voting, along with an ID. Said notification also tells you when and where you need to go to vote. Tax returns are automated as well. The only reason to manually do your taxes is when you have deductable expenses or incomes that are currently not tracked automatically, but the list grows ever shorter.

I don't think Australia has any kind of "tracking system" of its people. The closest thing would be the bank knowing most of what you do as more and more stuff becomes payable by plastic card only. You literally become your bank account no. But then, you can have multiple accounts 🤷‍♂️ That was a culture shock when you come from Denmark, where you get assigned a literal serial no. when you are born and it follows you throughout your life. Every transaction, every doctors visit, every traffic fine and the address your currently reside at is known to the governments big database. The number is called CPR Nummer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identification_number_(Denmark) The government database is the Folkeregisteret http://www.folkeregister.dk/ The system is/was so effective, the last 4 years I lived in Denmark, I didn't need to do tax returns, as the tax department already knew everything.

We've got RealMe, which is basically an excuse for the government to skimp on actual people answering phones or reading hard copy to provide services more than a clandestine scheme to monitor people online. For that they already have google, aws, fb, PSP/ IME/ Pluton, 5eyes partners/ GCSB etc.

Huh, dunno, we've had a digital ID for a while now. I can do my taxes online, register for mail-in votes, sign documents with it, change my place of residence, use my phone as replacement for various ID cards (driver's license, passport, etc.), request various official government issued documents online and receive them digitally signed with no paperwork (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.), request reimbursement for private medical services, and a whole bunch of other things I don't really need, like getting all the documents in order for a newborn kid. Can also check a bunch of information, like my projected pension and how much money I cost my health insurance this year, which is about a thousand euro as of right now. All without having to deal with any public officials. The amount of extra data I had to provide for the ID was pretty much zero, except for my mobile phone number. Which the government could find out any time they would want to, so that is not any more dystopian than it already is, thanks to the EU, which mandated fingerprints in passports back in 2009, and our fantastic conservative-right wing government of 2017, lead my Mr. Kurz, our glorious leader, and their coalition partners the freedom party, who mandated that any and all mobile phone numbers must be registered, before that we had the option of having anonymous mobile phone numbers - well, mobile phones bit that government and Mr. Shorty in the arse, so there is some poetic justice in that.

Behold the rules based order. That seems a bit too brief for something not as simple as this. e.g. as a counterpoint - https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/opinion/fictions-about-the-failure-at-camp-david.html?pagewanted= Arafat saw what happened to Rabin.

I'm not entirely sure where you're coming from with this. If Russia is intentionally directing refugees towards the Finnish border as a means of being a pest to Finland, do you seriously think that Russia will care a damn for what Finland says?

There be dragons then...

Larian's D&D Game This is why the camera shouldn't have been pointed at the PC ever (no spoilers): Act 2 Act 3 End-game

It's that bad. Because of my job I frequently call or take calls from numbers I do not recognize, roughly 2/3rds of them end up being some kind of scams that bypass the "scam likely" filter. It's nearly inescapable and can happen at all hours of the day, a call at 2am claiming to be an emergency is not a great thing to wake up to. I was talking about both, as the biggest clients of Plantir Technologies are governments. It's a distinction not worth a difference whether a government pays a firm to do something or if a government does something directly.

With Plantir Technologies Peter Theil already has access to all of my info and is selling it to the government(s), (other) big businesses, and probably the scammers who bombard me with fake calls/texts. If the US government already has so much on us on file, the least they can do is use it in a way that's beneficial or makes interacting with them less of a headache instead of providing wank material to feds. There's something deeply American about having the awful parts of a cyberpunk dystopia married with the bureaucratic inefficiency and incompetence of a government that can't do anything but send guns halfway across the world.

Asked the same question when I’ve seen Baten Kaitos remake announced