LadyCrimson

This (and other general trend news etc) just confirms for me that whatever super overpriced system I may build in a couple years, is likely going to be the last one I ever build, given my age and grumpiness re: online/AI/"apps", service/subs/own nothing, and all of that. And no I don't think AMD is really any better, company wise, and the Intel Arc hopes seems slim to none by now. It's all going to garbage re: gaming, which is the only reason I ever built major desktops anyway. I mean for general desktop use I personally could still get away with my ancient Win7 desktop PC that sits in a closet. Also - Jensen is an out of touch rich boi tool at this point, who should just stop speaking.

I'm sure no one cares - and there's probably tons of YT videos on the topic - but just reporting that after 6 years (more or less) my LG OLED TV still has zero burn-in or even temp. ghosting issues. Caveat being I use it in an always heavily darkened room so I don't have to compensate for brightly lit spaces. Still wouldn't use one for a constant 24-news/stock ticker or 1 program open 24 hrs for weeks/months, screen, but risk re: general desktop/browser use and daily hours of gaming seems super low. Just put taskbar to out of sight unless hovered over, use a single-color background or screen saver if you want, stuff like that. Dunno why I bring it up - the thought came to my mind and here I am typing it. I'm just like that. :D

Never felt like I would get into Rimworld, but for some reason Space Haven looks appealing. Maybe because it's in space and you're building a spaceship/space encounters/trading etc and that suits me more. The learning curve is probably high tho, which as is often the case these days, I'm no mood for right now - I want it because it's on initial sale but it would break the "don't buy unless you're going to play" rule. It is cheap tho - I could buy it, play it for 15 minutes, then exit/wait six months (they'll probably patch it more anyway). Then I wouldn't be breaking the rule, right. It's apparently been in early access for a long time, but I only noticed it now, with its out-of-ea launch. Anyone here tried it already?

Byrne at 74 - still amazing. And ok, Colbert dancing in the outfit was cute.

Last time I remember (gas) fuel efficient cars being even remotely semi-popular in US was the 70's crisis period, pushing into the '80's. (I remember sitting in gas lines with my mother). Then they got bigger/hungrier again. Man my mother was so proud of her new, tiny, late 70's Toyota Corolla hatchback with 30+mg freeway/mid-upper 20's town, vs. the giant family Ford station wagon. Heh. Some states (not many) are around 18-20% ev registration I think, but I think the only way the majority US masses are going to switch to hybrid/all electric (especially if their only vehicle, vs. a commuter secondary, say) at a rapid or non-yo-yo pace is if their wallet makes it impossible not to do so - eg, perm. very high gas prices or other costs. I hardly drive anymore + I really dislike modern vehicle designs/computerization. But maybe I'll get a hybrid when I'm 70+, if my license hasn't been revoked by then. :D

Do you guys still buy books once in a while? Paper, I mean. At this point reading on a device would probably be slightly easier - vs. holding a smaller book or bigger book on a lap - but I can't quite make myself do it still. Plus ofc not taking up physical space would be nice. But I get too obsessive (like I am with all things) and read even giant novels quickly. Buying books (in any form) was and would become fairly pricey, fast. There's the library, but then I would lay them somewhere and forget about returning them until "well, you bought it now" charges. Hahaha I have five brain cells left.

More like 400, maybe even 500 more hours, I've decided. I've reached the point where I don't always play every day, but there is always something to do, and previously "cleared" areas pop up with new stuff periodically, from MQ or other actions, as well. And I still haven't even come close to fully exploring the map or finishing all faction side quests etc. I did also make my "chapt 3 starter save." They've reached patch Version 1.07.00. Still haven't updated - sure there's a few (largely cosmetic) things I'd like but they're not important. I might be ready to try updating when they reach 1.20.00. Because they probably will in a few months. ;p And yes, still love/hate. Most of the time, I can focus on what I love. But sometimes -

Sorry, missed that. If you mean the scene with an aged chr, yes. Wasn't really additive for me, although it's fine it existed. :) I think most of us have at this point been trained to FWD to see if there's anything in the credits. Which is yet another reason to not see movies in theaters. EdIT: Hubby and I were always the ones who immediately stand and zoom out of the theater. Occasionally credits with nice art/animations or bloopers evenly spread out/to the side I might watch. Giant scroll of text for 10+ minutes, not so much.

@Bartimaeus Yes, he does go over many of those theories. Including motion (hunting) vs. color and pattern (gathering). I think outside of the house (store/shopping), of which I/other have no personal control, it's more that stores move and re-order things around constantly - even within the same aisle, and maybe men (average) have a harder time noticing/figuring out how things have moved. "One sees but does not observe." Based on only hubby/a few others, I also wonder if men just devote less brain/memory to remembering anything that isn't immediate survival/future plan/survival, and/or their absolute favorite thing/s plus already long-term auto-habit established. Like beer label vs. label of condensed milk, or a tupperware of meatloaf. Or despite being told/reminded 100 times, it'll take hubby 6-12 months to recall and actually remember/USE something like "if you don't want to go outside re: cans/bottles, just put it in this big plastic bin I've put on the kitchen counter." (eg, they remain put everywhere all over the kitchen, still). Where at some point much later, hubby will say something like "when did you put that there? That's a good idea." 😄

Alternate title: "Refrigerator Blindness." I chuckled a lot. There's some seriousness/info cited/talked over too, but mostly I chuckled. Some of the YT comments made were also hilarious. EDIT: Hubby: "I can't find (item), I've looked and looked they must be out." Me: (marches over to store aisle/shelf) "It's right there." (points) Hubby: "Where? I don't see it." Me: (grabs item, holds it up) "Right here." Hubby: " .... "

It was on HBO, so I watched Greenland 2. A film that absolutely didn't need a sequel, and which I honestly barely remember outside of the barest premise, but whatever. For a post-apoc. type plot, and as a sequel, it's actually not the worst. It's of course definitely more fun to watch it in company (my spouse) so you can poke fun at illogic/contrivances, obvious chr/plot direction, and such. Still, we didn't turn it off, so make of that what you will.

Finally watched Sinners. I liked the first half or so quite a bit. The actual vampire standoff was ok but seen too many similar stand-offs, whether horror or other, so can't really become too invested by such anymore, outside of any humor bits. Cinematography and the music/score - the way they used music/singing in the movie, not just the background score - were excellent. Acting was good. My cranky old self would probably give first half an 8.7 and the latter half or so 7.

Saw a video clip of Phill Collins, where he sat down at a drumkit, held/hit with the sticks a few times then said "that's enough." He's 75 and looks/stands like 98. Guess he's had health/surgery/nerve issues and retired long ago. Wasn't a huge Genesis/Phil fan, but loved some of their big radio hits of the time - so seeing him like that made me a little sad. Which led me to some of his live performances re: drums. Which led me to other famous drum rift/beat videos, until I reached Wipeout (The Surfari's) - now that's a classic. Some people like rock guitar solos, I like bass and drums. Anyway, dropping this here today. Still one of the best drum breaks/fills around and perfectly used/placed in the song. Song isn't bad either. Thanks for the memories, Phil.

Wake up early, feeling motivated, gonna get some stuff done! a couple hours later "What great weather, sitting lazily out here in my patio chair with my tablet is definitely a better use of my time." I need a better patio lounge chair.

I looked it up again, and I don't see anything that's changed very much. https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/drm Steam client has a wrapper dev's can use. They do not claim it is anti-piracy, and recognize it's more of a simple anti-freely-share with dozens of your friends, that can be easily circumvented. Steam recommends using other/3rd party drm on top of their wrapper, or "enhancing" legit copies with steam features that only work with legit Steam-purchased, to make having a legit copy more desirable, like achievements, trading cards, Steam's sever online-MP, etc. I'm pretty sure everything else is 3rd party, eg the current AA/AAA dev-popular Denuvo. The main ez-short test, last I knew, is to rename steam folder and the steam.exe and try to run games via the game exe to see if it'll run if game thinks Steam isn't there. There are many user-sourced sites/lists re: steam-drm free titles, whether they were initially or maybe removed later - but most of these fall into the moderate to very old, certain indies/devs, or somewhat obscure titles category.

CD - 150ish hours now. I probably have another 200 hours + to go! At least according to the posts from people who play for 8+ hrs a day claiming 350-450 hrs to do "everything"/near 100% it (I have zero intention of 100%). I only play an average of 2.5-3 hrs per day so I still have a few months of content. Perhaps. eg, it's been "worth the money" for me, at least. I still wouldn't "recommend" the game outright to anyone tho, because of the "it takes this many hours to get-good" or click, if it ever clicks with one at all, factor. Maybe that's ok for online-only/MMO's, but eh. It really is a sandbox more than anything else. Anyway, probably going to stop yapping about it now. Finally got a little more ahead in the MQ - which technically does get a tad (tad) more comprehensible as time goes on, but it's still not good or cohesive/immersive, even from my "don't care about story" perspective. There is apparently book-lore in the game you can get/read post-game that explains tons of story stuff, like why Kliff is so silent/blank, why the heck the sky-Abyss exists, who these beings are that keep yanking Kliff around, etc. Sounds like the intended background is more interesting than what was put/shown in gameplay. But between this sandbox and maybe one day Death Stranding 2, I may not need another "big"-new game until I build a new rig in 2-3 years. :P

I'm unaware of Steam doing anything like this. Which isn't to say they couldn't have plans for it. All the online-only and/or DRM (Denuvo et al) on games bought on Steam are dev. choices, far as I know. Steam client itself CAN be a form of drm/do-you-own-it check and probably 95% of game on it use it (eg, can't run the game without the Steam client running to "show" you've purchased it on Steam or something) but it's not required by Steam - again, last I knew. I've had the game here and there that could be run via the .exe and Steam client wouldn't auto-open. Which is a small part of why I play single-player games. My Steam is almost always Offline mode (sometimes I even unplug the net cable, especially these days, when not doing anything that immediately needs Online).

I think Clara Sorace also did vocals in Dune Awakening (unplayed by me). Has a haunting wailing quality to her tones, works well with the game imo.

I think it's like with almost anything else in that kind of category. Under "normal" health-wise conditions, a couple sodas or beers or donuts once in a while is no big deal. It's unlikely to do any big harm. The problem comes when it's more of an addiction so it's more like 6+ a day or whatever and over 2-3 decades etc. Hubby is basically a high-functioning alcoholic and has been forever. Started as a self-medication re: sleep apnea coping issues. When we were young, he'd drown in 2-3 pots of coffee in the morning/early afternoon, and by early evening/after work it was a six pack of beer. He's not a fall-down drunk with any major personality changes (maybe 1 beer an hour until bed, he only wants a certain level of it) but he's definitely an addict. He managed to cut down coffee to a few cups in the morning, but the beer - nope. He managed to quit for about a year once (just like my diet soda fixation), but that's it. We are both "addictive/obsessive" personalities, I'm afraid. :D

^ By "backslide" I mostly meant the inability to be religiously consistent. Moderate level of yo-yo-ing. Not a long term fall off. Like, a super regular workout schedule/routine, every day/week. Or in terms of diet, two weeks "healthy", then can't resist whatever junk/fast/"bad" food for a couple days (pizza, not-low carb Chinese, whatever). Chocolate-stuffed croissants were invented by the devil and I will hoover those like a starving dog, then punch myself in the face for three hours after. On the bright side, I discovered ChocZero. It uses monkfruit, which most of the time I don't like because of an aftertaste, but their biscuits and chocolate bars are "acceptable." For me they don't bother digestive at all and don't appear to produce big glucose spikes. So slightly less self-face-punching when I order some of those. At least I was never interested in drinking/hard drugs. Nor parachuting, cave diving, auto racing, bronco-bucking etc. But apparently, diet-Mt Dew is my biggest (mental) addiction. :P

I find as one ages farther and farther, there are two main types: ---those that increase healthy living to a quite large degree (or always did) and stay there --those that increase it a little (by choice or circumstance) in an effort to at least not age too "poorly", but always constantly backslide into "no one lives forever/YOLO" You can guess which one I am. I try to be healthier than I was at 25, certainly, especially re: T2 diabetes, processed food/diet, some amount of exercise to try to stave off mobility issues etc, but at the end of the day I'm mostly rolling the dice with whatever genetics may have in store for me. I've had a good life so far - it's fine.

Debating with myself whether I want to deal with 30-35fps in CD to use Ray Reconstruction/Max Lighting. On old CRT's 30fps was fine but heavy modern games at 30fps on modern display tech is too sluggish. 45ish is my usual limit. --Game just looks so much better with RR on, even using DLSS Ultra Performance and some of the effects settings turned down. The noisy pixel/shadow-lighting, ghosting, too-soft, etc. --The reason why you can play CD fairly well on older systems seems to be because they decided only RR-On gets the modern-day clarity/refined image treatment. --game still looks good (most of the time) without RR, but the difference is quite stark, at least to me. 🤔

I have yet to mini-game fish in CD. I simply swim around and catch by hand. It works so why not. Every medieval/fantasy game needs the hangin' tree, right? There are 7 trillion "jigsaw puzzle" scenes in this game. Still like his hair. And the cat. Especially the cat. (they've also added birds as tameable pets now, heh).

Recently: "I'm out of diet Mt. Dew. I think I'll try quitting again." (Not thinking about health reasons, just irritating "gotta go get some" mental dependence reasons). Last time I quit (for a year) was 25+ years ago. 3 days later - "yup, I still have essentially zero (caffeine) withdrawal of any kind. Not antsy, no headache, not grumpy. I'm fine." 7 days later - "still fine. but darnit, water is still so boring! (this is stupid I know, can't help it)." Can't/don't want sugary drinks, still don't like herb teas, every other diet-drink/flavor water tastes terrible to me etc 10 days later - "Honey, I'm going to the store." I am going to die with yellow-5-sucralose glowing blood and I no longer care.

Forgot - I tried swapping the DLSS 4+ .dll in CD with a DLSS 3.5 .dll. No clue why, but it seems to work better for me. Less pixelated image noise (foilage/grass, shadow/light noise, no more ghosting, and increased FPS by maybe 10fps. Image is maybe a tad softer but I increased sharpness on my monitor a small amount and it's fine. It's not perfect but it's better than default game DLSS. Maybe older nvida gpu's don't like 4+, or DLSS 4 sucks, or the fact I only install nvidia driver (no nvidia app with all the new ABCD options etc) affects something - who knows.