HBO Max is pretty awesome, among the current streaming services. Netflix has slowly become mostly their own shovelware shows, Amazon Prime rotates out good stuff quickly and has most good things moved to extra channels or rentals, Hulu has commercials, Disney, CBS etc. all have limited content.

They also have somehow convinced Warner Bros to release their new movies on HBO Max the same day they hit the theaters! Great in this plagued era, although to be fair, so far WW1984 was total shit. The sizzle reel was a bit unintelligible, but they did have some titles at the end, namely numero uno, Dune. At the very least, pick up HBO Max for a month at the end of 2021 for Dune.

It is a bit more expensive than the rest though. $14.99 or $15.99 or whatever.

It also feels like it's time for me to rewatch The Wire.

Ah yes, the seizure generator. I remember this from the early 90s.

I just got a new phone the other day, finally, and when setting it up, it offered to start the fingertip scanner for unlocks, with a disclaimer that basically the process is insecure. Nice.

I remember like 15 years ago when fingerprint scanners on laptops were all the rage, and they were such complete garbage that everybody avoided actually using them.

Mr. Tact, I think along the same lines, my phone being usable by somebody else might mean the difference between me surviving an injury or not; seems like much more of a concern even on a daily basis than theft, at least where I live. Although to be fair, my new phone does have a button right under the unlock screen for "Emergency" so maybe it's not such a big deal anymore on newer phones.

Cutter wrote on Jan 18, 2021, 13:55:
There's a pretty big difference between an homage and blatantly ripping something off. However, Carpenter's film was just a remake of the 1951 The Thing From Another World. It's not like there's a whole lot of originality in Hollywood either.

Yep, but that is also just another indicator that whatever studio owns the property will fight to keep it, it's been remade ...3 times now? IP Lawyers will sue on principle, I think.

roguebanshee wrote on Jan 18, 2021, 04:04:

WaltC wrote on Jan 17, 2021, 16:30:
This opinion is why no one should ever go to Forbes for a worthwhile and insightful view of consumer computer technology and software...;) To think that anyone would compare Anthem with CyberPunk 2077 is--well--just nuts...;)

Fixating on the two games being compared is completely missing the core point of the article:

More executives will see that rushed and half-finished products can still sell massively with high amounts of pre-release marketing.

Well, you're not wrong, but I don't see how anything is going to change that perspective at this point. Release, then patch extensively, that seems to be the modus operandi for every game now.

Yeah... I don't see how these guys don't get sued.

Even if Carpenter isn't litigious, the various studios have to be.

Cutter wrote on Jan 17, 2021, 17:13:
Holy crap, Mahomes got his bell rung there, eh? He could barely stand up. That's a concussion for sure.

Looking at the play in slow-mo, it looks more like he got his neck torqued quite a bit. Hopefully they check him for spinal injuries, as well as tissue injuries in his neck. That's how people get their discs burst.

*EDIT* welp, they are saying concussion publicly at least.

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 17, 2021, 10:37:

Jonjonz wrote on Jan 17, 2021, 06:47:
Given the current state of affairs, Idiocracy II would be quite topical.

I don't like historical documentaries. Or would it be more of a horror flick.Who knew that Idiocracy would happen so fast and come in the form of an orange spray tan. sad

People forget, in Idiocracy, the president actually looked for and hired the smartest man they could find, in an attempt to help the country. 2016-2020 reality was much worse, Trump is a literal sociopath; humanity just wasn't as stupid (overall) as Idiocracy's future.

What? Lol, Anthem wasn't even playable on release. It's still shit 2+ years later. Be reasonable.

Apparently Poland's right wing government has no idea what censorship is, and hates businesses that refuse service to customers. Their proposed law sounds laughable, but hey, it's Poland, so who knows what will happen. Their freedom of speech council had better have about 100,000 members, they are going to be busy.

Mr. Tact wrote on Jan 15, 2021, 13:06:

jacobvandy wrote on Jan 15, 2021, 12:59:
It's an aspect of Scarlet Witch's incredible power, which they barely even acknowledge in the MCU... She's been known to fabricate her own realities from time to time, and AFAIK doesn't need an infinity stone to do it.

It definitely seems like she must be one of the most powerful beings in the MCU.

Comics Wanda yes, MCU Wanda... her powers are vague enough to be as strong or as weak as the plot demands. I'm guessing with the show they are going to make her powers much stronger and define the reality of the show itself, ie. all the black and white 50's nostalgia looking trailers. That said, I'm looking forward to the show, it should be interesting at least.

I hate to be that nerd, but just read the novels. They are better than the show, and although there is some of the human drama, overall it's an amazing series. Light sci-fi of course, not Vernor Vinge or something, but still very enjoyable. Plus they have already said they are going to cram 9 novels into 6 seasons or something, some stuff is going to get lost.

Also, that Alaskan pilot broke like... all the laws.

Sheesh. I liked the office, but not enough to rewatch 10 seasons of it. Watch new shows, people.

Mr. Tact wrote on Jan 14, 2021, 00:07:
Yeah. I almost did some mining in the early days, I liked the "crypto" aspect of the idea. These days when I think about it, I wonder if I had mined up a few thousand bitcoin would I have done something retrospective silly like this? Or simply "lost" them like so many seem to have? Kind of makes me glad I got distracted by something else -- looking back and having spent millions on pizza would be awfully damn painful.

Speaking for myself, I most definitely would have spent some coins on frivolous bullshit early on, if I had mined any. I surely wouldn't keep them for 10+ years hoping they would be worth $40,000 a piece, rofl! When they were first being bandied about, I was way too suspicious of the mining programs, and thrashing my video card to death for 'imaginary coins' so I avoided them. Now... pretty much the same opinion, but it would have been nice to have 20-30 thousand bitcoins lying around on a thumb drive or something.

Dude. Sweet. I'll get this even though I'm mostly over Dead Cells at this point.

Ah yes, Minecraft and Five Nights at Freddy's. Definitely titles deserving of RT/DLSS.

Mr. Tact wrote on Jan 13, 2021, 21:58:

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Jan 13, 2021, 21:44:
Don't dwell on it. Think of all those guys bragging about buying pizzas and other takeout with Bitcoins back when they were new. Man, I hope those restaurants hung onto those coins!

The $350m pizza order.

LOL, wow. 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas... ugh... I am literally laughing to myself out loud reading that article. Now that's got to be some regret. Especially since mining bitcoins back then was so computationally cheap.. haha!

Somewhat interesting it wasn't directly to the pizza place though, I had misremembered that detail. Hopefully the intermediary kept those coins longer.

Toxoplasmosis Gondii, lead asborption, general low levels of intelligence, we may never fully know what drives people to risk their careers for petty theft or other nonsense. Similar to people stealing office supplies at work and getting fired... mathematically it makes no sense!

Krazy Kat wrote on Jan 13, 2021, 16:40:
Long ago I bought $100 in bitcoin. Forgot about it. Got a new PC. Threw the old one away. It would be worth $74,000 now. Sigh.

Don't dwell on it. Think of all those guys bragging about buying pizzas and other takeout with Bitcoins back when they were new. Man, I hope those restaurants hung onto those coins!

Welp, guess I should finish up Cyberpunk 2077 now then. I'm on the last mission, just doing side mission shit, then I can uninstall, and reinstall in a year or so and replay. It'll be like a new game.