avatar!

Almost done with -- Review will posted once completed relatively soonish...

We started watching -- Very nice so far -- although we're only on episode 3. Apparently they have decadal documentaries for 60s -- 2010s. While the documentary is not mind-blowing, it's certainly interesting and entertaining enough to keep you watching.

So an inside joke then

Can someone explain this? Someone have something against @OptOut ? Something I don't know about happen? Just an inside joke?

Honestly, I've been blown away by some sculptures I've seen people do -- simply amazing! This is from Boston 2022, for the international sand sculpting competition -- https://www.boston.com/news/arts/2022/07/23/photos-revere-sculptors-use-sand-to-capture-the-wonders-of-the-world/

Sigh, sometimes I feel like that's the only way normal folks can get justice -- not that I condone violence, but hey, some people can only learn the hard way

Keep us updated. I had someone steal my identity once -- basically stole my credit card and started writing checks in my name. When I spoke to law enforcement (this is in MA) they were nice, but basically said "so, did your credit card reverse the charges?" to which I said yes. They said "well, believe it or not, they're probably not going to care and will not be helpful in our investigation because to them, those thousands of dollars are small potatoes." They basically said, if they can catch the guy red-handed, they could charge him with writing a false check but that's about it.

So glad it was a happy ending

I don't think law enforcement will be able to help. What I do think you could do is take them to small claims court. That's about the only refuge for people who are not rich. You could always hire a lawyer, but most lawyers will not be interested in something so small -- which is to say, if it's "only" a few thousand dollars (a lot of money for most of us), it's probably not worth a lawyer's time. Not to mention ebay has a slew of layers. But again, small claims court is the average Joe/Jane's best friend.

Because ebay doesn't care. Do they make money? Then okay. If they start to lose money, at that point they'll take action, but not until they start to lose money.

I've heard nothing but amazing things about the game. That said, not sure it's my type of game. Does it have a story/campaign?

The video game industry is booming. Why are there so many layoffs? A great question! https://theconversation.com/the-video-game-industry-is-booming-why-are-there-so-many-layoffs-222685 The video game industry had a banner year in 2023, with critically acclaimed blockbuster titles selling millions of copies. Yet, it was also a year of layoffs with 10,500 game makers losing their jobs. And with 5,900 reported layoffs in January alone, 2024 will likely surpass the previous year’s numbers. If the industry is booming, why are there so many layoffs? Who is benefitting? Who stands to lose? And what can we do about it? There’s an easy answer to the question of who benefits from layoffs — it’s shareholders. Many of the largest layoffs have come in the wake of corporate takeovers. Some companies explicitly point to improving profit margins as their impetus. You're welcome to read the rest of the article, but the two lines above are basically it. https://www.gamesradar.com/games/after-at-least-1400-layoffs-7-studios-closed-and-29-games-canceled-embracer-ceo-admits-i-deserve-a-lot-of-criticism/ Amid an ongoing period of unprecedented volatility in the video game industry, Embracer laid off 1,400 employees, shuttered seven studios, and canceled 29 games over the course of about nine months in 2023. [CEO Lars Wingefors] "As a leader and an owner, sometimes you need to take the blame and you need to be humble about if you've made mistakes and if you could have done something differently...I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism. I could take a lot of that blame myself. But ultimately I need to believe in the mission we set out and that is still valid, and we are now enabling that by doing this [new] structure." Yeah, typical CEO. They always have golden parachutes anyway -- so even if a company goes down, people lose their jobs and wonder how they will pay rent, these CEOs just quietly take in some millions of dollars and call it quits. Apparently the CEO of Activision earned over $77,000 PER HOUR -- https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/activisions-bobby-kotick-is-the-second-highest-paid-ceo-in-gaming-3137849 Honestly, with AI becoming what it is, I'm wondering if these companies are basically waiting for this scenario -- 1)Purchase and have a ton of well known IPs 2)Use powerful AI that can create, debug, and make games. There will be some limited human oversight of course. 3)Since the vast majority of people will be replaced by AI, it's time to make bank! 4)Repeat steps above.

Apparently that's "real" -- although the book looks like some weird satire -- http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-literary-history-of-golden-age-of.html

Haha, nope, LRG is now actually coffee stains https://embracer.com/releases/embracer-group-announces-its-intention-to-transform-into-three-standalone-publicly-listed-entities-at-nasdaq-stockholm/ "Coffee Stain & Friends”, a diverse gaming entity with a dual focus on indie and A/AA premium and free-to-play games for PC/console and mobile, with a high degree of recurring revenues. Nothing says "marketing" like uh, being "promoted" to coffee stain & friends

Pretty confident he's actually been waiting for Martin to finish Winds of Winter...

What could possibly go wrong Well, how about the flamethrowing robot dog on top of the bullet train to watch out for... uh, Russian spies

Groundbreaking ceremony held for high-speed train from Las Vegas to Los Angeles https://thehill.com/regulation/transportation/4613210-groundbreaking-ceremony-held-for-high-speed-train-from-las-vegas-to-los-angeles/ Federal, transportation and union leaders gathered in Las Vegas Monday to drive spikes into a symbolic rail, marking the beginning of construction for a $12 billion high-speed rail line that will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area. “People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s really happening this time.” The trip is expected to take slightly longer than two hours, with trains traveling as fast as 180 mph. This will be nearly twice as fast as driving. “I believe we’ll look back at today and say, ’This was the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,’” Brightline Holdings founder Wes Edens said Monday, per the AP. Excellent and about time! They hope to have it ready by 2028, and I hope so too. This will be a big boon to America.

Just finished this on Netflix -- Overall, I enjoyed the movie. First, the actors -- Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, as well as the supporting cast are fabulous. The movie is quite faithful to history -- people often don't realize that Elvis was to an extent also "canceled" during his days by people who thought his music was "inappropriate or un-American". Also, Elvis was a big supporter of civil rights and this is conveyed accurately in the biopic. He had a lot of ups and downs (like most people), and of course he was "flawed" like any person, but I'm happy to say that while the movie doesn't shy away from that, it also does not put undue emphasis on such things. Presley's final years are often considered sad and tragic -- he was physically and mentally sick, and should have been at the hospital rather than performing. Fortunately, while the movie does get into that, it does not make that a prominent feature. It's clear that the director, Baz Luhrmann, respects Elvis not only for his talent but what he accomplished with his trailblazing music. At the end, it's clear that the movies says "Let's remember Elvis for all the good he has brought to the world with his music. Let's learn from his tragedy, but we should remember him at his best" and I truly appreciate that. There are some things I felt detracted from the film. First, the special effects are either hit or miss. When they work, they work well. Other times, it feels like I'm watching video from a PS2 game. Luhrmann also directed The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio. That film was flashy, and Elvis follows many similar flashy cinematics which mostly work in this case. The main problem I had with Gatsby is that in the middle of the film there would be modern music playing, which completely removes you from the epoch. Since this is a film about Elvis, clearly the vast majority of music is Elvis! Luhrmann is definitely conveying to the audience "hey, even today Elvis is still influential", which of course is 100% correct. Still, there were a few musical numbers they added that I thought detracted from the period piece. But, as I said, it's not nearly as jarring as in Gatsby. My final criticism would be that it's a long movie. It could have been shortened by at least 20-25 minutes without losing anything. At the end of the day, I would recommend this movie. While I have no intention of seeing it again anytime soon, it was worth watching. 4 out of 5 stars

Actually, they can also be plasma -- although plasma is primarily H and He -- basically stars. Definitely don't think one should lick plasma, it tends to be rather spicy

People don't really understand radiation and uranium etc. Concrete has uranium bits in it. Concrete is radioactive. You still get much more radiation from the Sun than from spending walking around in concrete. You can hold a chunk of uranium in your hand and nothing will happen. I wouldn't lick it, swallow it, etc. but it's not enriched uranium and is naturally occurring. Forever chemicals, microplastics, etc. those pose much more of a cancer risk than most anything else.

And as a scientist, my immediate reaction is "seriously, you can't lick gas people"

The 80s theme is sweet. Not sure I'd be interested in the game mostly because FPS are not my thing, although I can certainly enjoy them, as long as they're not too hard By the way, what are people's favorite 80s-inspired video games? The two I've really played and enjoyed are -- Infernax Saturday Morning RPG

Wait... are you saying video game collector's actually go to GameStop