Gorth

Just guesswork on my part... China doesn't seem to understand the consequences of a zealous Muslim theocracy not that far from Uyghur lands, whereas Moscow probably still remember the war(s) in Chechnya and the threat posed by extremism in the Caucasus region.

I like stoicism. It’s what you do in life that matters, not what you acquire.

Too deep man... too deep 😂 Not funny per se, but thought provoking. Didn't we have a philosophy thread several years ago? 🤔

it's probably of little comfort to the people suffering in Florida, but they don't have a monopoly on stupidity. They have their Florida Man/Men, Australia has its Bogans. They were out in numbers, violating the stay at home orders, which has to stay in place because people like the protesters, keep violating the stay at home orders. As for the average intelligence of Australians, one just has to take a look at the commentary sections of Sky News. It's as facepalm worthy as the commentary sections on Fox News. Could be because both are run by the same guy of course (unlike say AC/DC, this source of cognitive degeneration export article is nothing to be proud of)... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58291873 Police in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney have clashed with thousands of people protesting against Covid lockdowns. In Melbourne, mounted officers used pepper spray when elements of a 4,000-strong rally broke through police lines. Police arrested 218 people, and at least seven officers were injured. ... All those arrested face fines of A$5,452 (£2,850) for breaching Covid regulations, police said. Three people were also charged with assaulting police.

But you’re perfectly fine with mocking other people for doing the same. Don’t be surprised if you’re held to your own standards. Me, you can mock all you want, I’m a bit like the proverbial waterproof goose, but the blanket generalisations often end up badly received.

Not a Ubisoft fan. Not really a Steam fan either. Did you try Steam support? Sorry if asking obvious things. Can only ask based on what’s in your post

...and scientists are only right until they're wrong. It's the beauty of science. Always looking for more info to prove/disprove something. In the end, who you believe is a personal matter. Some things seems more obvious and easier to accept (like the Earth is flat, because we can all see that from our individual perspectives) and some things stretches credulity. Early (European) astronomers got burned on the stake by the Christians for having outrageous ideas about the universe. edit: if the head of the ICU in Florida’s largest hospital says 95% of the cases in his ICU is unvaccinated (interview in the link I posted above) I consider him a more reliable source on the importance of anti covid measures than anything coming out of DeSantos’ mouth

Just an interesting snippet on the Covid situation in Florida and the results of the governors actions...

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. You seem to have made yourself the judge of it. If they support your position, they are, if they don't they aren't? Just calling out your hypocrisy in statements like this: Oxford University has it's own share of weird and head scratching research. But you don't seem to mind cherry picking your sources when making blanket statements about other peoples sources.

Up until The Taliban throws all their support behind the Uighurs... because you know, creating external demons always work like a charm if things gets too stale and the population too restless at home.

The link only works once and there was no feedback form. Believe me, I would have loved to give some feedback to that 😁

Tl;dr; if you play video games you suffer from anxiety and have a hard life that you can’t see your way out of other than escapism (by seeking refuge in something where you’re in control of your situation) Every point and question had that as an established truth. In the end I was just fed up with the sheer stupidity of it as it was obvious that they had a conclusion and needed to “massage” the data to fit it. No, I don’t really suffer from severe anxiety and I don’t feel like my life is worthless and best left behind, like the survey tried very hard to convince me of. Edit: This is what it looked like when presented to me (I removed names, links and contact info) My name is xxx, a PhD student from the xxxx and I am working with Professor xxxx and Dr xxxx from the xxxx), as well as Professor xxxx from the University of xxxx (Canadian university). I am reaching out to you as you have previously indicated on past studies that you'd like to be contacted about future research. We are currently conducting research on the motivations and passions people have for gaming, and its impact on wellbeing. This current study is specifically interested in understanding why and how people engage with videogames during difficult times. I’m looking for anyone over the age of 17 who enjoys playing video games, and who also works and/or studies (in any capacity) to complete an online survey (~15 mins). To thank you for your time, all participants will have the opportunity to enter a prize draw of 1 of 4 US$50 Amazon Gift Vouchers. If you are interested in learning more, or wish to participant, please follow this link: xxxx

As recent as yesterday I participated in a survey performed the University of Queensland about video gaming and the effects of isolation caused by Covid. It was grotesque and sadly no commentary section, so I could give those "researchers" a piece of my mind. It was so obvious, that they had already made their conclusion and now people participating were being "railroaded" with multiple choice options that I would describe as confusing at best and deliberately misleading at worst, trying to somehow retrieve data to support their theory. It was a complete wasted of time and tax payer money. At least to your surveys without trying to actively mislead people to answer in a way you would prefer them to answer and let them answer truthfully instead. Edit: By deliberately misleading, I mean the frequent use of double negatives in the answer selections and questions that are assumptions about you. Funny how everyone is a scientist these days 😝

The new generation... the "Coronials". Aka "The Quaranteeens" when they get older 😛

They are both each others six fingered cousins

Ummm... Governments and media varies a bit from country to country. Just saying. Here the government is struggling to procure vaccine in the first place, so nobody really tells any fairy tales about how great it is to get vaccinated. For some countries, it's the choice between hundreds of thousands of people dying or alternatively, suddenly all the vaccinated males running around with a constant erection (a joke, if you know what Pfizer is mostly known for). With Murdoch Media being the dominant media (80%) down here, we constantly get bombarded with how unnecessary lockdown and masks are and how we should ban all vaccines to make room for Hydroxsomethingcloride, that stuff the omnipotent, omniscient Trump in one of His revelations revealed to the world as the new fountain of youth that would cure all our ailments. Not kidding. Sky News eventually removed those videos from their news pages, but only just very recently. The narrative being spun by medias and governments can be/is very different from country to country. Edit: Tl;dr; the Murdoch Media wants to turn us all into the proverbial "Florida Man"

@Raithe Damn! That was deep. Loved it 😁

Those doctors might also run out of chickens to sacrifice

“The true American embassy” 😂

Public beta has started for Guild Wars 2 and the new elite classes. Every player (regardless of whether they have any expansions, f2p or otherwise) will get 3 new temporary extra character slots where they can create up to 3 insta-max-level characters for one of the first 3 elite specs to be tested. They come complete with all the gear and things needed to try them out. Only catch is... nothing those characters do will benefit your account. I.e. they can't accumulate wealth, map rewards or similar for you and they disappear when the beta ends. But, you get a bit of time playing them at max level and see if it's something for you. Four sessions are planned. The first just started. Further 2 sessions will feature 3 elite specs and the fourth and last one supposedly making all 9 available to test together. They'll probably monitor closely how they perform in all game modes.

Her and SloMo both. She screwed up NSW and Australia royally, but the former was responsible for the national quarantine measures (which has failed on a monthly basis so far, with no plans how to fix it)

Naughty, naughty Gorth... a bit more on topic https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58252784 The National Ignition Facility uses a powerful laser to heat and compress hydrogen fuel, initiating fusion. An experiment suggests the goal of "ignition", where the energy released by fusion exceeds that delivered by the laser, is now within touching distance.

Me too...

Sticky tape is your friend 😝

Just a thought experiment on my part, but maybe the US, the UK, West Germany and other countries did their job a bit too well when supporting the Mujahedin financially, materially and politically in their fight against the Soviet Union. Lots of those old fighters (who later moved on to lead AQ and other groups) learnt that major, foreign powers can be defeated and driven off if you try hard enough, no matter how big they are. Not that the Soviet Union didn't screw up badly too, suddenly getting mixed up in an Afghan civil war between two factions.