Great, then, now we have another kind of hand bag.

I mean, in my own case, I’m such a bloody mess I couldn’t really recommend someone be in a long term relationship with me. Or nothing too deep, anyway. I’d feel like I’d drag them down. But all that aside, the biggest reason I can think of to be hesitant about commitment is that, in commiting, you will find yourself having to give up control of your life at times and making comprises for the other person’s sake. Where as if you are non-comittant, you will have more autonomy to lead your life how you wish.

Nothing much new to say, just reiteration. A big or huge or gigantic map is fine, so long as it’s populated by meaningful content.

Really wish Forspoken had been more populated. It’s a huge world, and combat/abilty wise it’s a great pure-mage action game, which I really really loved about it, that’s not a very common thing. But my god, the world is so empty despite being so big, and most side objectives are just collectothons. There’s some more difficult endgame content, but no real reason to grind up for it.

I’m not, but a friend is. With a couple, actually. He’d inevitably wind up sleeping with them now and again, and at this point one has just become a fuck buddy with no real relationship attached. But really, it’s your own dynamics that matter here, and that’s between you and that person. So how anything winds up going, well, the one’s most qualified to make best guesses are you and them.

I like you, too. Cheers, mate! 🍻

Why, however gateful do you need to be? Tis a tease, a tease! Be as gateful as you please! Meander round it 'nd walk about, or walk right through it, in and out!

What’s a teacher to do when the lock to the gate is in the student’s mind?

I don’t think kids give a lick about any of that. The songs are catchy, the animation is goofy but endearing, the girls are charming and relatable despite their “stardom,” the fantastical elements still play into universal themes (feeling like one must hide the dark side of one’s self versus breaking free,) the story is quickly paced and succinct with little-to-no drag. Politics is definitely not a part of it.

The fuck. I’ve never heard of this. Haven’t heard anything that interesting in pokemon since years ago back when I was using smogon university to dig into the meta and play on some online simulator where everyone just locked their pokemon at lv50 and could choose all their IV/EV distribution, natures, and move loadouts for the ultimate meta experiance.

After playing the story through a few times, it’s hard to actually stay invested in it anymore, I also did all side quests one run too, and I’m not keen on repeating that. However, 2077 is the only game where I will start it up just to drive around and listen to some music, whether in game or something I pick myself, and then just turn it off. Usuallt for 30-45 minutes. And I played many of the GTAs and all but the first Saints Rows. But only 2077 will I drive around just for the hell of it.

Yes, I go back and replay the game every few years. Its grittiness is definitely a bit silly to me now, but when I was a kid, I was enchanted by it. While the Jensen games did not have the charm of the OG, the first was still decent, and it’s a shame Square Enix drove it into the ground with the second Jensen title.

“Almost certainly,” is just you assuring it is so. Nothing in the legislation itself demands that.

A head monk asks his disciples to describe a pitcher of water without calling it a pitcher of water. Some monks say what it isn’t. Some monks describe what it can do at length. One monk says nothing, instead, he simply kicks the pitcher over with his foot; he is declared the winner.

And then there’s the book of Job, the entirety of which is a story where God and Satan make a bet over a guy named Job. Satan says Job is only faithful because of the wealth God has granted him. God says Job is genuinely faithful, and tells Satan he can put Job to the test. So Satan has the entire guy’s family killed by bandits, he loses all his material possessions, and winds up plagued and homeless. Job mostly keeps his faith, yet he is persecuted by his friends (just verbally) who believe his sudden punishments are happening because he must have done something wrong and his faith must be false. Still, he holds out, mostly. Then, when Job finally starts to actually crack, God shows up as a fucking whirlwind and goes on a long-ass ramble about how great he (God) is, to which Job humbles himself. God’s response to this is to praise Job. He then chews out Job’s friends who persecuted him and demands they sacrifice 7 bulls and 7 rams and have Job pray for them because God is only gonna listen to Job, nevermind it was all a bet between God and Satan that led to this misunderstanding. Then Job is gifted twice what he had, 14000 sheep, 6000 camels, 1000 yoke of oxen, and 1000 female donkeys. A new family, with seven sons and three daughters, and of course the daughters are just the most beautiful daughters in the whole land. Then Job lived another 140 years. And this definitely makes up for the first family slaughtered, because the Bible says so.

Something something reading the Bible is the greatest proof you can ever need that it’s bullocks.

Dude, are you okay?

I mean, sure? But that’s rather broad and does not really pertain to the topic at hand which is potentially (or outright) privacy-breaking legislature enacted and enforced on technology in the name of protecting childeren.

It is similar, not the same. Some other key differences to consider are that while the US one is at the OS level, it’s just asking you to provide an age that isn’t linked to your ID or anything. It’s just like when a website asks your age, you can absolutely lie about it. But now it’s being done on the OS account, not the website.

Whereas, yeah, it is just for games in China, but it is absolutely being run against the person’s ID in a national database. Some games even require facial recognition. So it’s on a whole other level of verification and tracking.

The only thing that I can think of is how China regulates it’s online gaming.

What is China’s Age Verification System?

China’s Age Verification System or 游戏适龄提示 in Chinese, is a government-mandated infrastructure that restricts minors’ access to online games and digital platforms. In China, all users must undergo “Real Name Verification” (实名认证) before accessing gaming services, enabling platforms to enforce age-appropriate restrictions automatically.

The system is overseen by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) and integrates with national databases to verify user identities in real-time.

https://appinchina.co/blog/the-complete-guide-to-chinas-age-verification-system/

The move to do this was largely in part thanks to complaints of parents in regards to their kids’ habits with gacha games. For anyone interested, what I posted was a small excerpt from the link, there’s a lot more info on it there.

We/they are. So maybe we don’t pay then. I’ve never asked. We just have the premium package, so I assumed we paid.

I use this at a center I volunteer at that works with the mentally disabled. Unsurprisingly, a lot of those people are old. Surprisingly, Canva is simple enough that I’ve been able to train the elderly, of all people, to use the program to make fliers or three-fold pamphlets for themselves. It’s a good program for what it does, and the center pays for a premium subscription, so it’s not something I personally need to worry much about.

Honestly, I’m fine with this in terms of the program’s functionality, as long as Canva does’t fuck with its user interface. It is pretty simple and intuitive, and I’d argue that the UI is quite possibly one of its strongest assets, seconded only by the massive amount of options/elements you can add to your project. And it’s already apparent what AI is mostly used for within the program: making more graphic elements to slap onto your page, and more ready-made templates you can still go in and alter everything in at-will. And honestly, I’m fine with that.