You’re an excellent case for my point. Most car-owning households in the US have slightly more than 2 cars. An EV covers your needs 335 days of the year and a gas car covers the other 30 days, yet people act like that’s why they need a 7 seat suv every day. I plugin hybrid will be my next move when I stop picking up lumber every weekend and put my little trailer back in use for the once a month “haul”
I just said I’ll use one of the 2 other gas cars when needed and didn’t even mention the bikes, but OK, you do you, ignore everything I said about having multiple cars because you’re mated to yours for life or something. You speak for the world. You’re the face of the majority. There’s definitely not an actual silent majority of people who don’t give a shit about cars, don’t talk about cars, treat cars as a costly appliance, and keep buying EVs for their boring, sub-100 mile commutes.
Lots of people consider only their commute. They just don’t complain about… Making it to work OK? Or don’t announce it? The frequency of 200+ mile trips is vastly overestimated by anti-EV people in both terms of how often they do such trips and how many more people live in dense, urban areas. Lots of people already have shitty, dedicated commuter cars they wouldn’t want to sit in for more than an hour as it is. A half-dead 2011 Leaf would still cover my 40-mile round trip. Back when I daily’d a Geo Tracker, I’d take my spouse’s normal gas sedan if we had a trip. Or my weekend gas car. The average number of vehicles in US households that own cars is 2.3 cars. An EV can be slotted into most households without any real change.
And those weird products that make common, simple tasks easier (think: 90s-00s infomercial for like jar openers or soda pourers) only ever showed normal, able-bodied people badly performing tasks. Doesn’t change the fact that those were targeted at people with disabilities without singling them out. The shown user is not always the target audience.
I’m always shocked by how unimaginative this tech-centric community acts. OK, so this version is silly for YOU. Are you the whole world? Are you the future? Stuff like this is typically a bulky demo unit in need of further development. Fringe case devices are also that - fringe case solutions. This isn’t for the person sitting at home with a dormant phone. This probably has an application in medical and scientific fields where mobility is critical, staying in one device is necessary, avoiding a tangled external battery pack is preferred, and automation prevent human error like not plugging in the dead pack fully kor at all). Could have larger applications for swapping vehicle batteries, as well.
So don’t buy it.
I assumed it was just very high octane, often available at stations near race tracks. Regular (US system at sea level) is 87, premium is 93, “race” is 105-110. Could be used in dedicated race cars or ones set up to be retuned on site at the track
I beleive it was a complaint about those 3 actors. “it’s almost the least interesting thing, scoring higher than only these 3 features”
For those who want to laugh at the headline and not take 3 minutes to read the article:
An investigation of Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona.
Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a “game-changer” and said the department was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.
So the embarrassment comes from the sheriff’s response, thinking ChatGPT is a game changer for its… Advanced googling and potential hallucinations.
Anyway, while I don’t want to fuel better terrorism, the gearhead in me is seething with this other part.
stopped to pour race-grade fuel into the vehicle, which it then dripped
High octane gas is not extra spicy gasoline. Race gas is not super spicy gasoline. The higher the octane, the less flammable it is. Marginally, but octane is not an explosiveness rating. It’s literally anti explosiveness - called anti-knock capability. Knock is when the fuel/air mixture self ignites, namely before the spark. High performance engines tend to have higher compression and run hotter, making predetonaion (knock) more likely. Higher octane fights this condition so it combust at the correct time.
Stop putting high octane in cars that say use regular. Some can account for it, but high octane is wasted on many normal cars. And it’s not cleaner. Gas station chains may add cleaners to upsell you on vpower or invigorate, but that’s just a marketing ploy. Get injector cleaner once a year for a lot cheaper if you must.
TIL who Aaron Taylor-Johnson is and that he’s continuing the tradition of having two Marvel characters
Ace Combat 4 and 5 both made me feel awesome, then sad, then vengeful, and then awesome in their campaigns. They start as casual arcade styles, throw in some grief, grow the antagonists’ justification, then the skies start speaking Latin and you systematically destroy some megabase. I was fairly young, so now sad Spanish guitar riffs cause me grief when thinking about Yellow 4 and 13. Is that joy? The memory of a fairly casual arcade game weaving in a heartfelt tragic war story?
At risk of making this my only personality trait, Far Cry 2’s desert at night was a treat for me. I seek out similar experiences in real life now. It didn’t necessarily create that desire, but it was my first open world game, if I remember correctly. It didn’t make me jump for joy, it just made me feel serene.
I’m sure it was driven by the memes, but Portal 1 gave me a great sense of accomplishment. It was mild reaction skill with some decent logic puzzles. The build up, the turn, the fight, the final song. Quite a trip.
Overall most joy might go to Forza Horizon 1. First open world Forza title, first (for me?) open world racing game with decent driving mechanics, excellent variety of cars, hit me at my peak interest in house music and other EDM, showed me Colorado scenery I’d see IRL 10 years later, and the campaign was focused around the Woodstock of a [cars X EDM] festival. I wish that was real and I wish the scene would be respectful. But, unfortunately, you can’t control 300 drivers and prevent them from one-upping each other and making it dangerous and disrespectful. And you gotta pay for parking everywhere nice. See: h2o, ocean city Maryland.
Far Cry 2 brought me joy experiencing the open world format. I fell in love with the desert at night there and now I try to visit real life arid regions at night.
FC5 didn’t have towers and FC6, as far as I know, has a single tower that makes a joke about it. I don’t beleive AC Odyssey had those towers, either. Can’t remember Origins. The tower mechanic was also only used to visualize parts of the map, sometimes with a unique goody at the top. It’s back to foot-based map discovery. The busy work here is talking about all the bullshit collectibles and similar scavenger mini quests. AC is full of chests and AC4 had some cave clearing missions and deep sea dive puzzles. You have to go to certain locations or complete a certain number of collectibles to unlock some equipment rather than relying on the campaign alone. 20 hours of story, 100 hours of fetch.
I’ve played this for the first time on and off over the last couple years. This looks the same as my Xbox One playing the One digital version.
30s, New homeowner, wife, house needs repair, cars need repair, wallet needs repair, someone has to cook, full work week, 90 minutes spent on commuting. No kids or pets, but I feel we might have similar availability. And I’m always wondering the same because I’ll never have the time to play like I did as a teen. But, here’s what I have. PC and Xbox.
I generally play one story game at a time. I’ll play for a couple weeks or couple months. I just try to make progress and enjoy it for what it is, not set any goals. How would I know how much time I need anyway? Could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours per session. Something like Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider(don’t worry, I have bigger triggers next). I’m hoping this month I “finally get around” to Fallout 3, NV, or 4.
I have other options, though, depending on immediate time availability. Some borderline storyless games (maybe with cosmetic reward progression) for the shortest of times or highest of mental fatigue (forza horizon, fortnite, rocket league, ace combat, borderlands). My two slow burn games are Valheim and Elite Dangerous. They both take probably an hour to get up to speed if I’ve been out of it for a few weeks, but I’ll be good for a week between sessions after that. I’ll sink 2+ hours per session into those. Regarding remembering controls, ED amuses me because I use an Xbox controller to play. Every button is mapped and there’s a combo for every (ABXY) + (D-pad or bumpers). 14 buttons and 24 combos. Putting the controller in my hand unlocks subconscious memory of most of them. Even in other games where crouch and jump are shuffled around, it only takes a couple mistakes for me to remember.
It’s not an impressive list, but I try to not beat myself up over it. I’m busy, I’m tired. I stopped being elitist about the Epic and Ubisoft bullshit because I don’t have time to waste giving a fuck. There’s 100 better similar games but this is what I’m doing. I’m sitting down for a good time, not a long time.
Another aspect I had to reexamine was my notion of productivity, progression, and entertainment. Did gaming fulfill a fantasy version of real “campaign” progression? Does the building and repair I do in real life actually contribute to the same feeling of accomplishment as beating a game? Does socializing in real life fulfill that need for story progression? So far… Yes. Mostly. The fantasy game version definitely looks cooler.
Only other comment is about not choosing a title. I wouldn’t play a game I started because I needed to play a newer game before I was left behind. I think it’s been 2 years since I last bought a game. I can’t keep up. I can’t finish what I have. So I more or less decided to work through my library for now. It’s hard to get over the fomo of skipping titles or being multiple titles behind in a series. But so what? I have hyped games from 2015. I have hyped games from 2020. And from 2010. And from 2005. I’m missing newer games hyped in 2023. But in 2026, there will still be hyped games. And 2030. And 2035. I don’t have the time for every title. So I’ll see what’s out when I have room again. For now, it’s just about 4 story game so cycle through. Doesn’t really help you decide, but maybe makes it easier to avoid not deciding.
That was my take. Still is, but was before, too, although I have concerns about it. I don’t even use xitter. It’s an unfortunate conundrum and I don’t know the answer. We are clearly seeing the results of channeling government communications through private platforms where information can be gatekept. But what’s the alternative? I agree that the government website should be the primary source and private platforms the secondary source, but, much in the way US-market cars hide the “real” tail lights in/under the trunk in order to put “aux” tail lights on moving trunk/tailgate panels, that’s just not how the general public will use it.
People want to be entertained. Getting info through private media is the most we can hope for. People don’t want to get real news media, let alone their local government’s attempt at a blog site. I know we get amber alerts direct from the cell network to some unique software on phones, but I imagine rolling out some more-frequent alert system will cause a ton of privacy/freedom backlash crying about being one goosestep away from China.
All devices are rated in both voltage and amperage. The reason the voltage is not typically listed is because the market defines the voltage available and the plug on the device is what tells you the device’s voltage rating, if nowhere else. It’s still important to tell you if it requires an adapter, ignoring the part where the average consumer isn’t going to try to wire a NEMA 5-15 (regular north American plug) to a 12v barrel plug.
This next part is not me trying to be a know-it-all, but to dispel an incredibly dangerous misconception. Amperage is not necessarily what kills you. That is a myth, and a dangerous one at that. Amperage is what causes burns, including internal burns, and is what kills you later at the hospital. Higher voltage is what kills you NOW by finding more paths. If it crosses your heart or brain, it’s probably over. Electricity does not seek the path of least resistance, but rather it travels across each path inversely proportional to the resistance. If you complete a circuit with opposite hands, you’ll probably be safe because your chest cavity of blood vessels will conduct the majority of electricity in paths other than through your heart or brain. AC power and higher voltages increase this risk. Low voltage is not entirely safer, but for most consumer use, “low voltage” is mostly below the breakdown voltage of dry skin, about 30-40v. Wet, and especially sweaty skin will conduct far lower voltages - licking 9v batteries is a normal example, but I’ve also been shocked by a 12v car battery the first time I worked around a side-terminal battery. Opposite forearms, too, so you can bet I took a minute to monitor my pulse. But the Lethal voltages and amperages are in the milli-unit range if they find the correct path. That’s not a high threshold, even with the significantly lower resistance pathways across your chest taking the majority of electricity. And, even if it was just amperage that kills you, you have no control over it because you’ll never know how much resistance you’re creating for the circuit to travel. It’s an unknown variable that’s supposed to be infinitely large but, if you’re getting shocked, it’s something lower than infinity. I household circuits, your drawn amperage will be much lower than the 15a circuit breaker and it won’t trip to save you. That is where GFCI circuits come into play by detecting incorrect electricity paths rather than amperage overload. 15a circuit breakers prevent fires. GFCI prevent death.
110/120 is the voltage. That’s irrelevant to the amperage, which is somewhat standardized as 15a on normal outlets and 20a on kitchen or garage outlets.
Extension cords do not have fuses/circuit breakers. That’s found in some power strips but it’s neither required nor necessary with proper use.
And I can literally only reach my car with a welder if I use an extension cord…
The risk of daisy-chaining power strips is it become very easy to overload it, so yes, a circuit breaker would be nice as fire protection. 17 phone chargers would be fine but heating appliances will overload it fast. With no internal breaker, it’s easy to cause a fire with really cheap strips but, if life was ideal, they’d all be made to handle 20a loads like the receptacle in the wall.
The risk of daisy-chaining extension cords is the extra resistance incurred at each connection. There’s a varying amount form the imperfect contacts and a varying amount from pulling the cords apart over the time of device use. If you keep burning plugs with your yard care equipment, it’s probably not normal. It’s usually from partially unplugged cords trying to carry 10-20a across half the planned plug contact. You can readily buy 10-16 awg cords in 110v markets. It’s up to you to determine the appropriate gauge. In an ideal world, they’d all be 10awg. But we don’t have that, we have a world where you can actively choose to save money and increase risk.
The Thargoid war seemed pretty exciting. I did some ground-based ship battles and was decent at it, but I couldn’t commit the time for a space battle, for a titan battle, or for a foot battle. I can’t say I want to walk around my ship, but I’d take it if it meant a more realistic transition between ship and foot, though. I still pop in for quick pirate hunting at nav beacons. I’m always getting fomo about the latest credit farms but have given up on owning a carrier. I appreciate the bio exploration as an expansion on long distance exploration since the payout is comparable to casual combat, at least.
But yeah, ultimately, it’s a fairly empty game. Lots of space, little variation. Obviously I enjoyed it enough to put 1000 hours into. No regrets there. But I was very into the lore and community stuff so it was as much roleplay as it was gameplay
From someone who made the screen trippier and trippier as a kid until he Icarus’d it, strong magnets taped to a drill bit and spun at high speed around the screen can degauss it. But this type of information basically has no application anymore
Speaking of Icarus, the Parker Solar probe has made its closest approach to the sun this morning. It cut contact (as planned) on Monday and it’s probably reconnecting on Friday. That little guy is great. 3.8 million miles from the surface at 430,000mph.
For a while, it was full of pictures. Only pictures. That “lunch” thing was trendy but not at all the main content. Whatever you wanted, it was there. It was no different than any other platform. Some great content, some bullshit. Now it’s shitty “reels”, ads, and fraud. You’d have to sift through a lot of forced garbage to find your subscribed content.