lol.

To rile you up a bit, I wish I could say it is a subjective thing but 4:3 is the better option for laptops.

More vertical screen estate, given one would mostly be doing their reading, writing and browsing – activities that are traditionally vertically oriented.

Even most websites just centre their content and leave behind swathes of white/empty space on both sides.

Anything beyond those activities, one should be using a bigger screen (desktop or a TV)^^^.

Jokes(?) apart, Framework laptops are the best option for folks like us as it ticks the most boxes. But it is not available in the country where I live, and I don’t want to import it as it would be meaningless without its broader ecosystem. FWIW, I have dropped them emails every year requesting them to expand their presence in more countries.

Till then, old ThinkPads. They are cheap, have enough spare parts on the market even after almost 2 decades, and even come with the kind of keyboards and screens that I like. :-)

^^^This, unlike the text above it, is a subjective thing

The comic, to me, could have ended on the second panel, and I would have been satisfied with that.

Joker is a decent movie, but it could have been a standalone film. Why use the characters and setting from DC but not utilise them fully or even properly?

It seemed like the film was ashamed to admit it was a comic book movie while also needing the DC label to survive the studio pitch and succeed at the box office.

I regretted seeing the movie based solely on strong word of mouth, rather than doing my own research. But at least it made me avoid the sequel which, according to word of mouth, crashed and burned, taking the apparent love and reverence for the first instalment along with it.

I see a few comments about self hosting stuff to escape the clutches of big tech, and while all that is effective to a high degree, it is beyond the abilities of the general populace.

Besides, I am also of the opinion that not everything has to be digital or smart.

I relish writing and receiving letters, it is tangible and indicates commitment. Fortunately, postal system isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

I like reading newspapers and it was sad to see all shops in my neighbourhood stop selling them during or after COVID. It was equally sad to see a lot of magazines not survive that period.

I miss my old TV that was simpler to use and started quicker than my newer smart TV. It does not matter if I disconnect the latter from the internet, it takes its time to load up. Besides, I don’t see any perceivable difference in picture quality from the distance I watch from.

Older laptops, though heavier, were more repairable. In certain aspects, they are better than modern ones: more tactile keyboard, nicer screen ratio (4:3). Of course, the newer laptops decimate the old ones when it comes to performance and screen quality but that is just technology progressing.

I could keep going on with a plethora of product categories. But across all my points, I wish some companies could continue offering such products, at least to a customer base that is willing to pay more just to support the existence of those products.

I used to think of it as bacteria on top of my eyeballs. Then my sibling put in the fear that the bacteria is inside the eyeballs, which made sense since washing my eyes didn’t really remove it. I eventually stopped giving it any thought.

Thank you for resolving it.

Would this make Steve Balmer a person who applies Steve’s Balm on themselves or on another person, or a person who makes Steve’s Balm?

After a traditional cinematic run, his latest release, Sitaare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth), will be made available for audiences exclusively on YouTube for just 100 rupees, the equivalent of less than £1. Other films in his back catalogue and future releases will follow.

This is not going to work.

People who like to watch movies and can afford ₹100, will watch it in theatres where several state governments already cap the ticket prices between ₹100-250. They go to theatres for the communal experience.

Those who can not afford, would watch the same movie on YouTube hosted by another channel for free.

Heck, people who can afford, choose to pirate movies because it is less of a hassle.

Though I applaud the move made by him, I have to think this move was persuaded more by YouTube as well as the fact that the movie failed to capture the magic of its “spiritual” predecessor.

I guess you meant Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. But thank you for the book recommendation. I have added it to my reading list.

approaching it as a game is more likely to hurt your experience of it than help it

That is well put. Thinking of it as a game with objectives to compete and making progress towards the end, is somewhat detrimental to the experience. Akin to watching a movie to complete it rather than experience it.

post about whatever I’m playing pretty much weekly both here on !patientgamers@sh.itjust.works and on !gaming@beehaw.org in the weekly threads

Noted. Thank you.

Ah! I stand corrected on the title. Thank you.

Truly a joke worth risking one’s life.

A textbook would lose most of its credibility in my opinion with a title like “____ 4 ____”.

The fact that it contains such wonderful takes on electricity is just icing on the cake.

Thank you. I did read some of the news. Just wanted to know if I missed something.

Unfortunately, I can already see the term “NSFW” being abused to fit whatever narrative the governments.

Moreover, it is setting a dangerous precedent for rest of the world, especially countries already leaning towards fascism.

Disco Elysium is my favourite game from the last decade (maybe even beyond, but I have a soft spot for old games).

To me, it is a case study of how well games work as a storytelling medium if done with the right mindset and people. Everything including the art style, music, game mechanics worked for the story, and it was a joy to experience that.

It is a shame what took place behind the scenes, and I wish there is a better way to show my support to the original developers.

P.S. I could not find a way to save/follow your profile here. So, I did the next best thing, and tagged you and saved your comments.

Out of the loop here. What incident(s) brought about this realisation?

I wasn’t aware about the similarities with Dark Souls, and about the designer’s previous interests.

I guess what I needed was a strong recommendation. Just purchased the game on Steam after checking for its compatibility on ProtonDB (it is platinum).

Thank you for the recommending the game, and for taking away the chore of deciding what to play this weekend.

Again, I am really glad we had this conversation.

Thanks again for the recommendations. Blue Prince looks refreshingly good and different. I did hear quite a bit about Clair Obscur, but turn based gameplay never appealed to me. I did not play Baldur’s Gate 3 for the same reasons, in spite of it being so well received.

I agree with your criticisms about Ghosts of Tsushima, and have made similar observations as well. However, Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man are my comfort games where I just soak in their music and atmosphere while I do something else like talk with someone.

Thank you for making me notice. I cannot not see it now.

This is taking “testing in production” to a whole new level. How did this get past the regulations?

On second thoughts, does any country have concrete regulations for self driving vehicles? I am curious what they would be, and how they would quantify the thresholds since no self driving solution would be 100% accident-free.

I also have felt that in my older age I’m gravitating more towards medium-length games with a proper story that you can finish and put away, as opposed to the endless MMOs and grindy ARPGs I enjoyed in my youth.

You could not have captured it better.

I am glad we had this conversation. Please do recommend me some more games. if you do not mind.

I was on a long break from gaming (almost a year) due to life, and plan to resume weekend gaming soon. For the same reason, I have been scouting these communities and threads for recommendations.

As of now, I zeroed down on the Mass Effect trilogy on the Steam Deck but I am also considering a second play through of Ghosts of Tsushima. I would prefer a light(er) game which is easy to get into and allow me to take breaks as I don’t think I will be able to pull off hour long sessions initially.

I like when a game isn’t deliberately wasting your time.

Well said.

Also, PoE is a game that I have not visited in almost a decade. How is it now? When I played it last, it felt like Diablo 2 but with very little explicit story to experience (it had lore that one could discover). I gave up on the game after a few days since without a proper story, the grind got boring very quickly.