And nicotine was heightened by manufacturers to increase cravings, despite it only being a small part of the cigarette.

I think that same philosophy can be applied to phone notifications. Notifications make up a small part of the phone experience, however, NOT receiving a notification of an email, liked post, text message, up-vote, comment, etc when you are CRAVING one is probably the leading cause for these "unprompted" phone checks that occur 89% of the time.

Looks like the study is hidden behind a paywall or account requirement. My guess is that these researches have been funded by parties who want to quote this paper.

Overall this suggests that the disruptiveness of smartphones is rooted within learned user behaviours, not devices.

"Hey we just make a rewarding user experience... it's YOUR fault for adopting the addictive behaviour!"

Assholes

Cutter wrote on Nov 25, 2020, 14:53:
For CPU cooling I was thinking of going with the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 - love BQs motherboard check on their website - but it's huge and it seems like overkill. I think the Dark Rock Slim would be better for me - the Pro doing 250W TDP vs. the Slim 180W TDP, as I'm not overclocking or anything, and it saves me $50 to boot. Thoughts?

....So with a new AMD system...

There are thermal distribution differences between Intel and AMD dies, with the latter (apparently) dissipating heat more evenly across the surface. Most CPU cooler designs, however, are tailored to Intel's with a hot center. Perhaps this is more relevant to water blocks but the same principle applies to heat pipes. Consider reviews that compare coolers on a chip that more closely resembles yours.

RedEye9 wrote on Nov 25, 2020, 12:55:
330 lb weight capacity. Made for Americans.
1yr warranty for $500.

Makes Herman Miller's that much more appetizing with 12 year warranty. Also 15% off right now with free shipping.

DrSquick wrote on Nov 19, 2020, 23:47:
Elite is absolutely the best VR experience I've ever had!

How does one get the game to launch in VR? I've done some googling and checked out the forums, but I can't find a guide to set it up.

It wants to launch the game via Oculus... is there an option to tell the Elite launcher to use SteamVR?

Who is V.M. Varga?

Not that you can actually buy one...............

Queue times can be brutal in OW. I guess it's a result of a smaller player base, with way more modes than launch, plus custom lobbies dividing up that player base. It will be a challenge to prevent OW2 from continuing that trend as it looks to add more content/modes and fracture the community even further.

Hopes that this would be the indoor parking simulation of our dreams...

lol

Hoax?

Tom wrote on Nov 12, 2020, 13:41:
Wow, that hyperloop article is a new low in journalism. What an embarrassment.

I saw a journalist video of the loop, and it looked loud, bumpy, and generally an unappealing thing to do underground.

Slick wrote on Nov 10, 2020, 15:10:
It's funny, I think of Rockstar's 7-year deve cycles when I think of Take Two, and Codemasters I think of them pushing the same shit out the door every year FIFA-style. Maybe this aquisition qould do them some good. They need a good kick up the arse IMO.

Also a good point

The Steam reviews are Mixed for the latest Dirt and Grid releases, while Very Positive for F1. Suggesting that the developer has lost the mojo to appeal to casual fans whilst balancing the demands of all those with racing peripherals who want a technical foundation to a racing game. From what I see, the Career mode in F1 is the best yet.

Perhaps Codies will receive some story-writing talent from Take-Two... an injection of soul and context that make the races MATTER against your opponents, against your teammate. That's what makes all sports engaging, the drama in and between the teams as they push each other to win, or push too far and towards self-destruction. Motorsports is no different.

Dirt and Grid need some Borderlands and GTA personality, voice acting, dialog, plot, etc... that provides context and player interest into otherwise mundane gameplay

Parallax Abstraction wrote on Nov 10, 2020, 13:13:
RIP fairly monetized racing games.

yikes, it's true

FB lies and manipulates people for profits, just like Trump as a business man and president. This specific example is just crook on crook drama with fodder in the middle. The broader picture of self-regulation from big tech, as displayed by every other industry, is that cheating for self-interest will not disappear. I don't know how Twitter, FB, etc, can move forward with trying to maintain a 'socially acceptable' narrative when each corporation is bias and seeking market share and quarterly profits.

Here's hoping American political satire hounds the Left for the next 4 years...

I didn't realize they changed the PS controller shape, it may actually fit my hands now... at the impairment to those with smaller hands!

Unfortunately, the DualSense’s magic faded for me after my first dozen hours of play. My hands hurt after using it for long periods, especially with games that involved a lot of constant use of the triggers and bumpers. For context, my hands are medium-sized for a woman’s, and I’ve never felt any similar pain from using an Xbox One controller, the Switch Pro Controller, or the DualShock 4. The bottom half of my right hand, as well as just below my wrist, ached after playing Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition — a game that requires constant use of R1 to focus on an enemy — and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, where swinging is mapped to the right trigger. The controller just feels a bit too big. Its grips are too thick and long, and don’t have enough space in the rear divot where I normally rest my middle finger. (My colleague Russ Frushtick wrote a counter-take, where he says this controller is a “literal game-changer”, so I should emphasize that this is my experience; it turns out that people have different-sized hands.)

At it's worst, BF turned some levels into a meat grinder with indestructible hallway shooter, the best vehicle squad was indestructible and owning an entire server, enormous levels that didn't encourage teamwork just unorganized distraught, and a plethora of unsatisfying loadout customizations.

BF has been drunk with doing 'more' poorly, it needs to sober up and execute well on 'less'

jdreyer wrote on Nov 5, 2020, 15:53:
The economic crash greatly increased homelessness due to economic reasons. I'm not sure how far back to the norm we've come, or if there are still a lot of economic homeless people out there.

A Canadian charity recently conducted a bold social experiment: giving people experiencing homelessness a one-time cash infusion of $7,500. According to the researchers, the results were "beautifully surprising."

The caveat with this experiment is that "recipients were identified as not having significant substance abuse or mental health issues." Suggesting that those who are homeless to economic reasons can pull themselves out with a little help.

Nullity wrote on Nov 5, 2020, 16:23:

Cutter wrote on Nov 5, 2020, 16:14:
Thanks for all that Nullity.

Question - for anyone actually: Should top fans in the case draw air in or out? I saw a vid a few weeks back where a guy tested that and I seem to recall that it worked better drawing air in because that would cross the CPU fan and blow it out the back, rather than drawing excess hot air from the area and blowing it out of the case. Just wondering if anyone knows for sure.

Front fans are for intake, top and rear are for exhaust (hot air rises).

EDIT: I'm fairly certain that if you made the top fans intake, it would create a cross-flow and cycle the air around in the case, causing the hot air to become trapped.

EDIT 2: Also, ideally, you want slightly more air coming in than going out (CFM - cubic feet per minute) to create positive pressure in the case, which helps to prevent dust build-up.

It's all about the circumstances of your chassis build (components, available fan mounts) and environment (dust or pet hair, desk or floor operation).

I prioritize quiet operation (slower fans), low maintenance (fan filters), and cooling the video card (it's more fragile than the CPU+mobo).

The negative vs. positive pressure differences are minor and situational to your chassis design. Just aim for roughly balanced airflow with routinely cleaned fan filters.

I dislike top fans blowing in because dust/hair settles on the top (especially when the computer is off), and it all gets sucked into the filters. Also, if you chassis is living in a place where it is at risk to accidental spill of your favorite liquid, top fans blowing in means the liquid will be pushed directly into your components. And your Ryzen becomes Fryzen...

I don't understand why the map is so big... they put in a transport vehicle and portal teleportation locations as half-measured solutions to a problem that's self-inflicted! Unless they're increasing the player count per match, it seems like this is missing the mark.

VaranDragon wrote on Nov 5, 2020, 03:31:

1badmf wrote on Nov 5, 2020, 01:30:

jdreyer wrote on Nov 4, 2020, 21:57:
Also, Cutter will be happy to know that psilocybin was legalized in Oregon on Tuesday.

Road trip!

that's a bit extreme on oregon's party. i'm pretty progressive socially, but all drugs? a lot of it is illegal for good reason - it fucks up people's lives. also they're still 100% illegal federally, and unlike weed i doubt the feds will turn a blind eye to abuse of psychodelics and cocaine n shit.

If you are equating shrooms with cocaine, you are just letting the rest of us know that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Exactly. Access to psilocybin should not be prohibited, and such laws are another example of the powerful trying to keep the populous under their control whilst big pharma is pushing sedatives. Meanwhile, something that expands your consciousness is banned.

Hallucinogens are linked to many ancient cultures, significantly contributed to our spiritual understanding of what it is to be human, and to the individual they provide an alternative, self-observing perspective to understand what it is to be you.