Hurlshort

I enjoyed it. The world building was surprisingly complex for what really was a Vampire B-movie. If you enjoy Snoop Dogg, you will enjoy this. He is the star. Is this connected to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter?

I did 5 different batches. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, and the beer was surprisingly better than what you typically find in stores. But it was also an expensive hobby and pretty time intensive. When I moved, my brewing buddy got all of the equipment we bought and he put it in storage, and so we haven't brewed in a few years. Top-notch ingredients seems to be the real key. Avoid the cheap ingredient kits. Fresh grains, fresh hops, and good yeast make a difference. We made 2 IPA's with Citra hops (one had been fermented with orange rinds), a Centennial and Chinook Pale Ale, a dark Weissenbock, and an amazing Vanilla Oatmeal Stout. The vanilla came from vanilla beans soaked in scotch, and it was by far my favorite beer we brewed.

I loaded up Conan Exiles with the new massive Sorcery update. A lot of people are worried about the Battle Pass system turning it into a microtransaction hell. I can't speak to how this will affect multiplayer folks, but as a single player, it doesn't seem to have much impact. There are a lot of positive changes coming with the update that don't cost any crom coins, and it looks like I have access to all of the DLC stuff I have purchased over the years. The two positive changes that stood out immediately to me: - The trait system is reworked. When you reach a certain level in an attribute, you get to choose from a list of perks. For example, when leveling up my expertise (harvesting attribute) I got to choose whether I want a boost to how much I get of a resource, or a better chance of a rare material. It adds some complexity to a stagnant system. - There are challenges to complete. These are separate from the storyline stuff. Some are exploratory (go pray at a certain altar), some are combat related, and some are harvesting related (harvest 10 iron sources.) It seems pretty simple, but it's another way to stay engaged. I didn't play long enough to get into the rewards. Anyways, I haven't even gotten into sorcery aspect, so I'm looking forward to that. But I was happy to see all of my DLC was still active and the single player game has only really been enhanced at this point.

Yeah. After Wheel of Time, I expect very little.

Whoa whoa, The Island is more than just some cruddy action flick designed around her in spandex! It also features Ewan McGregor in spandex.

I had no idea he was still alive.

I don't have any problem with banks earning a profit and charging interest, by the way. I appreciate my local banks and the service and security they offer, and they tend to be transparent about interest rates and costs. But when we are talking about necessities like housing and education, there needs to be controls in place to keep the average person from being fleeced by the profit machine.

Are salaries increasing 12%-18% every year? How does the average homebuyer keep up with those profit margins that the banks are expected to get off their home loans? If I borrow a million dollars at 4% for a home loan, which is pretty normal in the Bay Area, I will pay the bank $700,000 in interest over the life of the loan. That is considered a good rate. It's not a great system for the homebuyer. It is massively profitable for the banks.

Ah, look at the defensive banker. "If I can't make obscene profits, I'll take my ball and go home!"

Conan Exiles releases the sorcery update on Thursday, so I'll be playing that. I'm not sure when they are releasing the microtransaction stuff, but for now the game will be free for a week. I already own all of the DLC, so I'll stick with it and see what happens.

Landing jets on aircraft carriers is pretty crazy stuff. I watched Maverick this weekend with some buddies and some beers and that was a pretty good time. It followed the formula pretty well. I missed Kelly McGillis.

Usually all you pay is interest for the first few years of the loan, too.

Stoked that Xenonauts 2 made the screenshot of the new thread post. I've been playing Phantom Doctrine, which is a neat spy agency manager with not so engaging missions. I've had some fun with it so far. The story is good, but I might stop playing because I don't want to walk all over these tactical maps anymore.

https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2022/08/28/twitter-ensured-curt-schilling-cant-forget-about-38-studios-following-his-student-debt-relief-commentary/?s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR00CcU44ISuPZLbS3IFs3EOLQZHJc_RfHyGL5zbEOxgGrypZmdYQI_RzuU Hah, this probably fits the funny things thread better. Curt Schilling, man.

I just looked it up and it seems there are rumors of a new Mass Effect game in the future. It would be strange to just kill the IP over Andromeda.

I'm still not convinced Spaceventure will actually come out. It is funny to compare this to Xenonauts 2, which is the main kickstarter game I'm waiting on. That game is a few years behind schedule and people are flipping out, but it has a playable alpha and very clearly is progressing regularly, albeit slowly. I can't help but chuckle at their impatience when we look at these early kickstarters that are still languishing.

Spies Like Us is a masterpiece.

https://www.axios.com/2022/08/25/teacher-pay-college-graduates-inflation-report?fbclid=IwAR0_UWNyIWujcKSrcyVi7Qy_MBlwhLWZKAh6kjcFEU5GqbMnNmICCUsA6vI Ouch. I'm not sure what happened over the last decade.

I guess this is getting released in September. I'm sure it will be terrible, but it is humorous to see it may actually see the light of day.

I dig it, John Hamm is great and is less cocaine-adled than Chevy Chase.

I imagine there has to be some wiggle room between "college is free" and "College graduates will leave school with a mountain of debt".

Funnily enough I just attended my daughter's back to school night, and the most impressive classroom by far was her Woodshop 2 class. It is an entire building/garage, and they have multiple work areas, including a full scale house frame for students to learn on. Unfortunately not every school has such a great set up. But in regards to your flawed premise, the answer is both are important. It isn't an either/or proposition. We can have carpenters that understand social studies and social studies people that know how to work with wood. As Amentep pointed out, Social Science or Social Studies covers a broad range of subjects. At the end of the day though, it is more about Bloom's taxonomy than having some obscure knowledge about a specific part of history. We want critical thinkers in our society.

Wait until you see our for profit prison system.

The internet tells me they ramge from 4.99-7.54 federally, and 1.29-12.99 privately. That doesn't seem too low. I'd say it should be minimal. 1-2%, enough to cover costs. 90% of the loans are federal, so should the government really profit on young people getting an education?

I've seen a bunch of people complaining online about the student debt forgiveness. The central theme seems to be concerns that taxpayers are footing the bill. It sounds like a drop in the bucket to me. Netx will they cry about how the banks will lose out on the massive interest profits?