audaxdreik

I keep screaming about how the TPM 2.0 requirements of Windows 11 are insidious due to the ability to implement remote attestation now. I don't think they'll spring the trap immediately, but it's locked and set and you'd be a fool to believe it won't happen eventually.

Remote attestation allows changes to the user's computer to be detected by authorized parties. For example, software companies can identify unauthorized changes to software, including users modifying their software to circumvent commercial digital rights restrictions. It works by having the hardware generate a certificate stating what software is currently running. The computer can then present this certificate to a remote party to show that unaltered software is currently executing.

This is exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from Newsom. Remember his podcast interviews with Bannon and Kirk? It was obviously a failed political wiggle to the right when he thought that was the way the winds were blowing, but fate has brought this new opportunity to his doorstep.

His motives should be seen as nothing more than political ambition. Now that he's found a worthy opponent in Trump, he's seeking to scramble to the top of the oppositional hill, the Democrats. That's where his ambitions end, just another unsuited Democrat for the current climate who wants to return things to the status quo. He'll be another Biden but this time with an undeniable scrap of charisma.

It still brings a smile to my face every time I play Mario Kart 8 on my Linux desktop using a PS5 controller.

I pay for games where I think money will get to the creators that deserve it, but Nintendo only gets my most sincere disdain.

Thank you for the response, I appreciate it. I have emailed the university and politsei, I am trying to pursue as many paths as possible 🙂

Isn't that part of the benefit of federating, too? If Bluesky turns heel, just cut it back off again.

I suspect handhelds are going to be the future for awhile now. It's not just out of a growing demand or simply because portable graphics processing and battery power have improved (although those factors do help) but it's another chance to:

1. Push locked hardware
2. Funnel to controlled storefronts
3. Bring down and moderate the increasingly unsustainable AAA development costs

Those first two aren't particularly surprising, they're the key elements that Nintendo has honed in on while Sony and particularly Microsoft continue to struggle. Microsoft feels like they've just left XBox to languish while they focus on Game Pass as a means to ensnare you into their economy which is why they're first down this path, but I think Sony will follow shortly. In an ideal world, I'd love to see Sony get back to hardware manufacturing with a Vita like device you could load Linux/SteamOS onto. Vita was a great little product, done so dirty. EDIT: I know the Portal exists, but that's mostly just a dumb receiver as far as I understand it. Still, they're already not too far off ... come on guys, just a little further.

But moreover it's that last point, really. It's hard to continue to push out these extraordinarily big budget, bordering on AAAA (lol) territory games that continue to flop. I know the Switch 2 is already doing stuff like Cyberpunk 2077, but that stuff can still be hell on battery life as well as requiring lower resolution and lowered visuals in portable mode.

I feel like Nintendo is making a big mistake pushing that 4K60 envelope with the Switch 2, although I see why they made that maneuver. The Switch was perpetually underpowered and they felt the need to close that gap, but they already struggle to push out big budget tentpole franchises as is illustrated by Mario Kart World being the only big release title. Also, I just want to generally point this out, Nintendo suffers from needing to up the stakes. It's what lead to Mario Galaxy being such a grand adventure, then Odyssey going even bigger than that. Now we have Kart World because ... gotta get bigger than 8 Deluxe somehow I guess.

I don't know what any of this means or where it's going, I just wanted to try and call out some of these observations. Turbulent times ahead, I don't know that anyone really knows what the next 2-3 years will look like.

Camp is when a movie maybe isn't good, but you still want to give it a gold star for trying. It's making a joke and you're laughing with it more than you're laughing at it (but you're still laughing at it). Even stuff like The Room by Tommy Wiseau which I think most people agree is a pretty bad movie; it still comes from a place of sincere vision.

This is in contrast to stuff like Epic Movie where it is trying so hard to be camp that it is just terrible instead. And this is all obviously subjective.

Cocaine Bear (2023) is surprisingly good. You think it's gonna be one of those overly campy movies like Sharknado, but it's pretty well written. I mean, don't expect too much, it's still a very solid 7/10. But the thing it understands best is it actually takes enough time at the beginning of the film to develop extensive cast of weird characters so once they all get thrown into the blender (cocaine bear) you actually care enough about them and what's going on to care about the outcome.

So many movies these days forget you really need to care about those characters.

Fun time, give it a go some night when you're bored and got nothing else to do.

You're not wrong. You didn't even stick around for the pole dancing boss! https://youtu.be/m4f4z6fZh1I?t=651

Yes! The original Code Vein is one of my guilty pleasures. It's very rough in spots and a lot of the levels feel like they're just hallways to connect arenas, but there's still a lot of fun to be had if it looks like it might be your kind of thing.

The character had a ton of options and the character builds in game let you unlock skills from classes for permanent equip so you could start to blend the classes together to your liking, creating some really cool builds if you put some thought into it.

It's a silly game, but one I recommend if you're just looking for a bit of fun and not expecting an overly engaging experience.

...

It's been a few years, actually reinstalls

YES! Thank you, finally someone else who sees it!

In my opinion, Deathloop is a spiritual successor to the OG System Shock as well. System Shock 2 and Prey (2017) both adopt RPG elements which is all well and fine, I adore both those games, but OG doesn't have them and leans more on the interplay of immersive systems, really giving credence to the immersive simulation labeling that feels a bit more obtuse these days.

In OG System Shock, I really do feel you're supposed to play with the Mission difficulty maxed so you have a time limit. It's fine if you don't, I've still never beaten it with the time limit on either Enhanced or Remake, but hear me out. System Shock (especially the REAL OG release) was an older game where you were meant to invest more time into it. You were supposed to do new game runs where you start from scratch, learn the world, learn the systems, and push further every time. It becomes more menacing when SHODAN is a real opponent that you can literally "lose" the game to.

Modern gamers don't really tolerate that kind of stuff because losing a good run to an 8 (or 10) hour time limit feels like a waste of your time, and I can sympathize with that. That's why Deathloop pulls the idea of runs into a metacontext where you're reliving the same day over and over again, learning the layout of the different areas at different times of day, making use of the tools available to you until you're ready for THE DAY when you do THE RUN and basically speedrun the game.

Part of me wonders what a Deathloop without Wenjie's preservation mechanic (I forget what it's called at the moment) would look like where you're forced to re-gather your favorite weapons from their specific locations each run would look like, too. But I get why it was included and I'm not ready to say it would 100% be a better game without.

Oh and Julianna obviously acts as the SHODAN antagonist stand-in even though I know their personalities and motivations are very different. You get how having an ever present, somewhat omniscient foe hunt you is kinda the same.

There's more but I won't ramble any further. I know they're very different games, but you see the outline, right?

EDIT: Of course there's copious amounts of Thief and Dishonoured DNA in there, but I've actually never played those so I have less to say about it. I promise, I'll get on it someday, I swear!

What allegations? I know there's been some things in the past, but is there something new/more recent?