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Joined 19 days ago
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Cake day: August 5th, 2026

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  • There actually might be no war at all, because some things make warfare between these two species that much more difficult.

    Behind the spoiler are details from Project Hail Mary, so if you’re planning on reading/watching it yourself, best not to look there.

    Spoilers
    • There is a massive difference between Earth’s and Erid’s atmosphere requiring so much preparation and war engineering from either party
    • That said, Rocky was able to make a sort of a spacesuit that worked extremely well, at least in the Hail Mary spaceship’s atmosphere (which wasn’t 1:1 earthlike, I believe)
    • That suit was made out of Xenonite, which is a substance Earth cannot compete with, probably making damn good armor
    • Earth has little to nothing to survive Eridian atmosphere in warfare circumstances: no material or tech that can be used for a spacesuit here, certainly not in the amounts for planetary combat, especially given the air supply that would be required

    Either side’s troops seem so fragile in the enemy condition and so unconquerable on their own turf.

    Honestly, Earth and Erid could make formidable allies more than anything, because a war between the two would be very stalemate-y attrition-type deal.



  • Sugar free drinks are taxed at 20c/l

    Does that include artificial sweeteners? I have some sort of prejudice against them that I couldn’t substantiate with research, but one thing is certain: none of them felt good to me.

    I am much happier with drinking less sweet beverages overall, but made with regular sugar. Actually tend to spend less that way, even if I pay more for less - I just happen to be buying that much less frequently that way.


  • That actually makes me wonder how come there’s relatively few such universes and stories arouns, given that suits and highly-secretive special forces are actually pretty popular in fiction. Maybe I’m overestimating the interest in such fiction.

    I would like more stuff like Control and Men in Black, especially in gaming, with deep and explorable lore and world. But I think such stories basically happen as a response to something, like the SCP and the likes being a phenomenon rather than somethin (easily) reproducible, and Men in Black being a metaphor for migration and assimilation more than anything. At some point, there’s just nothing else to say about a thing from a given angle, and instead of feeling fresh and welcome and exciting, a new entry to a theme feels stale and meaningless, completely lacking anything interesting or captivating.

    Which, I think, is what Control Resonant seems to try and do right by going outside The Oldest House and turning to a different kind of gameplay and worldbuilding. I think we’ll still be able to uncover stuff through reading and optional dialogue, but I doubt it will have the same form or extent as the first game.

    Speaking of Control Resonant - are you even interested in it given this shift? Please be careful with plot details, as I haven’t finished the first game yet.


  • I was really into SCP when it came out, and it was such a gift. Probably my favorite third-person shooter, both for its atmosphere and combat. I especially like the amount of stuff to just read and get absorbed in the lore, wonder at how the place used to look like under non-crisis circumstances.

    Great screenshots! Really capture the enigmatic feel that invites you to explore the world.

    Any people waiting for the sequel here, how do you feel about combat in the upcoming game? Seems like it’s going to be more melee-focused, which isn’t my thing, but I like and respect that they’re trying to do something different as opposed to making more of the same thing. That’s the same reason I love the DOOM series - that variety helps each entry have its place instead of feeling like a DLC essentially.


  • Hard disagree.

    There’s some debate to have here about neuroplasticity and whether cursive handwriting (or the process of learning something involving both the cognitive resources and some rather fine hand, wrist, fingers, a bit of an arm movement), but one thing is certain: it’s a faster way to write stuff down.

    I have tried journaling and other writing both in printed and cursive, and the former makes me not write at all, because there’s not enough time in this world for me to be my verbose self on paper when trying to write legible printed letters.

    Cursive is just that fast. Faster if you learn to write shorter forms of the same words. Even faster if you learn some special systems, but that’s a different rabbit hole.

    But I will admit that learning to be concise with one’s words without losing meaning and gravity is also beneficial, even if only for trying to push Alzheimer’s and others further into the future.



  • Very much this.

    I remember being so excited for cloud gaming as a kid, before the term was coined or the concept was widely there - I just kept thinking to myself how cool it would be to be able to play any games I want on my less-than-capable PC. Couldn’t even imagine the tech actually arriving one day.

    And by the time it did, I’ve become so disenchanted with technology that reaches mainstream, because you’re just so right: it becomes a very aggressive money-making machine that treats you without any respect and only wants more.

    I would rather pay more for less thanks to the rampocalypse, play with stutters and terrible FPS on lowest settings, than let a Take-Two CEO and others have us rent games and computing power.


  • What you’re describing is exactly what I’m wondering. Maybe I’m just not too deep into the topic, but it seems so arbitrary to me that they went with the whole isolation thing in the first place for no reason that I can see, other than the “oh no, it’s hacking stuff!” narrative being pre-planned and orchestrated for.

    In other words, I am siding with the accusations of this whole wave of “AI” suddenly hacking into stuff, with different models from different companies wondrously doing the same thing one after another, being a publicity stunt that one company started and others, as they do, copying just to stay relevant.

    Although I feel like maybe I’m going Chuck McGill here because I am very biased.