BenVimes

Honestly, James Stephanie Sterling.

I had been following them since The Escapist days, but a few years ago I just couldn't do it anymore. I was only interested in their Jimquisition stuff, and that had gotten really samey week over week.

It felt extra bad because this was after they had already lost like 20% of their subscribers for other reasons. I really hate that I might be lumped in with all those lovely folks when my reasons for leaving were entirely separate.

I still appreciate their message, though. I still think the Digital Homicide saga is one of the more interesting Internet dramas I've been witness to. And I still check in from time to time, mostly for their year-end lists and if something specific has happened in the gaming industry that I want their opinion on.

What I'm trying to say is, thank God for JSS, but only in small doses for me personally.

Oof ouch my bones (?)

They may be referencing the USA's increased international hegemony starting after WWII rather than the founding of the nation.

That's how Trump thinks, though. Every transaction is zero sum to him.

I'm also convinced saw the "deficit" part of "trade deficit" and either automatically assumed it was bad thing or knew he could convince low-information voters that it was.

Or maybe he is a dumbass and someone on his campaign staff was the crafty one.

No word of a lie, one of my university roommates came up to be the first week we were living together with a drinking glass in his hand and asked me if it was what a recipe meant when it said "add a cup of water."

I can think of a bunch of other things that Google should be embarrassed about, but Gemini is uniquely humiliating because of how proud they are of it and how hard they are pushing it.

Copilot is one of two LLMs I've briefly tried. It was noticeably better than Gemini was at the time, but still seemed entirely pointless. Nothing it (or Gemini) offered to do were things I wanted help with. I enjoy research and writing, so why would I outsource those things and burn down an acre of rainforest in the process?

"Swearing"

5th grade, first day at a new school. I'm trying to meet new kids, but I'm terribly awkward. I try to lead one conversation with some humour "Did you know the Bible says you shouldn't covet your neighbour's ass?"

Cue some other kid running off to find a teacher, which resulted in me having to skip recess and write an essay about how I shouldn't swear because it is a bad influence on younger kids.

Over the following four years I was on the receiving end of invective many times more aggressive and offensive, sometimes right in front of teachers, but I never saw another kid punished for foul language.

The zeal of the convert.

According to his Wiki page:

"In August 2019, Vance was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church in a ceremony at St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, Ohio."

I'm not a Tolkien superfan, and for me it was mostly just kind of boring.

Also, this portrayal of Middle Earth seems to have very limited ontological inertia. Everything not on screen might as well not exist. Even the things that are shown feel static and shallow, like there isn't enough "stuff" to actually fill out the world and support the complex societies within.

I seem to remember visiting their homepage last year sometime, and every headline was some variation on [Name of politician][aggressive verb][target of ire][reason for the spat], e.g.:

• "John Bloggins slams Joe Blow for wearing a plaid tie"
• "Mary Sue rips Judicial Committee for goat scandal"
• "Peter Flarking haymakers Geraldo over unreturned library books"