Let me preface this by saying that I'm a longtime GTA fan, and so, to some extent, I don't blame people for being excited for the newest game in that franchise.

GTA 3 on the PS2 was a revolutionary game that changed the medium forever. Vice City and San Andreas built upon that same template and engine making games that were bigger in better in just about every way. I have mixed feelings about both GTA 4 and 5, both in terms of gameplay and story, but overall feel that they were good games with better shooting and driving than the PS2 era games. I never got into the online stuff outside of occasional racing, but I understand that it's hugely popular.

With that background, I don't doubt that GTA 6 will be a big seller, maybe even the biggest ever... But be that as it may, I think that it is riding on a big wave of unearned cultural hype:

• We have seen very little of what the game actually plays like, and almost nothing about what sets it apart from GTA 5 in terms of systems. The marketing leads me to believe this will be less sandbox and more story...
• All we have been told about the story of this game is that you play as Jason and Lucia, two lovers and ex-cons in Vice City. The trailers focus on their relationship, which is a unique angle for a GTA game, but we really don't get any insight into who these characters are as individuals or what makes them interesting.
• Despite the fact that GTA has always been something of a hit-or-miss parody of modern (usually American) life and culture, every piece of media I've seen surrounding this game has been totally devoid of any humor or commentary. There's a lot to make fun of in America (Florida especially) today, but based on the trailers, this is looking to be the least funny or satirical GTA game ever.
• This is the most expensive GTA game ever, and that's even without factoring in the paywalled features like premium car modding and character styling, but will it be the biggest? What does $80-100 get us?
• For better or worse, quite a few of the key people who made the GTA series what it was are now out of the picture, so the development team is going to be pretty different than past games. That could go either way, but I think it does invite a certain amount of skepticism.
• No initial PC release.
• No physical release for consoles.

So again, I really don't blame people for being hopeful or excited about a new GTA game coming out. If you're looking forward to this one then more power to you!

But I can't help feel that the levels of hype are way overblown for what we've seen of the gameplay, story and world building. If it wasn't part of the "GTA" franchise, I think this would be just another new release.

This is really stupid, because I've never believed in anything supernatural or astrology-adjacent at all.

But I've been working on a satirical plugin for YouTrack (Jetbrain's alternative to Jira) called Scrum Tarot, the equally accurate alternative to Scrum Poker. So I had to kinda look into what sort of Tarot cards exist, and played around with online tarot drawing tools like dailytarotdraw.com. And while the project is now in a "I've lost interest so I'll never finish it" sort of state, I do keep coming back to that tarot website.

It's just ..fun? Like obviously I know this stuff only works because the description of the cards is purposely vague so that your brain fills in the gaps and makes them fit whatever situation you're in. But drawing three at the end of the day and seeing how I'll interpret them has been very meditative and actually kind of a good way to figure out the things that weigh on my mind without realizing.

Hopefully this will cause the software and game development industry to optimize their programs as intensly as they did 30 years ago. I assume that upper management types have largely forgotten the value of having a quality product, and that subsequently the time allowed for QA and optimization has shrunk in order to ship the product quicker. The ease of patching has made it worse. Hoping to see some more competent coding in the future.

I can't stand immigrants who come here from England, and after SEVEN GENERATIONS, still only speak English. Anglos need to assimilate and learn to hold a conversation in the local Indigenous language.

It was a hilarious quip, especially so and ballsy in the context of where 'twas introduced, and I agree that we're right, but it's been literally 20 years now and now you're just saying that you're right with a non-dog whistle. Whistles sound shrill.

and in fact I would counter that it has a far-left bias

For those that don't know, steelmanning is the opposite of strawmanning.

It means re-stating your opponent's view in a manner that they agree "yes, that is my view" and only then you express why you disagree with it.

Failure to do so means one of two things: either you don't actually understand the stance you claim to oppose or you're not even in the business of finding truth and changing minds to begin with.

Not sure if this is actually unpopular, but it didn't feel like a showerthought either.

So I was thinking about manic pixie dream girls, and I'm not sure I agree with this opinion I just formed, but... it's there, and I'll defend it in the interest of a good discussion.

In the Count of Monte Cristo, the Abbe Faria is an elderly priest who Edmund Dantes meets in prison. The Abbe is smart, well-read, principled, disciplined, a long-term thinker, kind, courteous, and all-around just a perfect guy. Over Edmund's years in prison, the Abbe becomes as a father to him, and teaches him all of his knowledge of politics, chemistry, linguistics, astronomy, history, and other assorted sciences.

Now, if a manic pixie dreamgirl is an upbeat, quirky love interest who exists only to spur on the main character's development... The Abbe Faria is coping unreasonably well with imprisonment, is certainly an odd character by his time's standards, even having a reputation among the prison guards as insane, he forms a bond of love with Dantes, and he teaches Dantes to become a better person and then promptly dies, getting out of the way of the plot. These are all of the signature characteristics of a manic pixie dream girl, other than gender.

So... yeah!

It is so easy to pick up the callous indifference and the nihilism in those threads, the borderline eagerness to see the demise of the human species.

These are the persons I imagine as being extremely vocal - here - but quiet and subdued on the real world. The type of person that violently accuses others of doing everything wrong while doing nothing themselves. No matter how small.

These are the individuals that almost place bets on when a given catastrophic event might occur. Next to it, the sadistic dead end speech on how it is deserved because a given generation was like this or that and there is no change to be made or achieved because of crooked politians or moguls.

Are you entertained?

I am coming into this with sincerity because it is something I truly believe in. As a disclaimer, this is to cover people who, get angry because of being poked or already mentally disturbed. I am not including people who're angry through other means such as alcoholic rages, that's a different thing on its own.

And I know people are so going to probably bring up mental issues to contrast and compare. Please, this is not for that. This is not up for debate.

The reason I believe people who have anger issues are disrespected the most is because, I've been in their shoes. Plenty of times. It's a very awfully lonely and jarring world to be in when you're one of these types. It always feels like the world is constantly kicking you while you're down, it's not a great feeling to live with all of the time. The world is kicking at you and you feel unheard.

The online world treats people with anger issues like they're side show entertainment. Like "oh ho! he's angry! quick everyone, lets see how angrier he can get and he can't do shit because we're miles away from him and we're all behind keyboards! huhuhuhuhuhuh!". Friends and Family feel alienated around you, feel like they gotta walk on eggshells all of the time when it comes to engaging with you.

Therapists, Doctors, Psychologists just want to drug you up because they feel you're a lost cause. Society doesn't take you seriously, because they like to make things your fault all of the time. How many situations can you recall where you got angry because someone was knowingly instigating something with you and did everything in their power to make things hell for you? It happens in school a lot. It happens at work a fair deal.

And if you retaliate, there's this weird sensation society has where, even if you are in the right to react the way you did (violence aside), then they just see you as a wild animal that needs to be kicked to the side and away from everyone. It is very fucking weird and it is a real thing.

People act all so surprised when the buttons are pushed too much and then we reach dangerous levels that do involve violence. I'm sorry but I sympathize a lot with people who end up having to resort to violence when all options to handle things as civilly and peacefully as possible has been thoroughly exhausted and when nobody is listening to them at all. Mainly because, it is a situation that never should have gotten to, if people did fucking listen and cared.

So great, the individual who reacted angrily is now demonized, probably will get tossed in jail for however long and god forbid they realize they're in a world of shit, that they go off themselves when given the chance.

The moral of the matter is, the next time you're dealing with an angry person, you have to stop and think a little about what world they could be in, that could make them angry at all. You'll never know, if they're someone, who's been fucked with a lot, who feel unheard, who is disrespected and somebody who isn't actually even trying to turn lives upside down on purpose.

You'll be truly amazed at times, how an angry person can change a tune when you go the opposite direction of what they expect, than just adding fuel to the fire and making them the fault of everything.

That's all. Terribly cheap exploitation sentimental sugar coated shit with religious overtones. Got triggered by the box office results. Maybe instead of 5 iterations of poo, make an original animation.

The problem with gatekeepers, is that their reputation is trashed by people who take it to the extreme. I still feel that gatekeepers in general are important to have for communities and fandoms. But the kind of gatekeepers we could use more of, are ones who're actually not just weeding out the fakers from the authentic types, but to actually educate a little about what a community is all about from being devoted to a basic fan.

I see too many times, people running around with wiccan stars and satanic symbols, but are only wearing them for cool-factor purposes. But if you came up to one of them to hold a brief conversation as to whether or not they even care of or know the meaning behind the symbols that they're projecting, more often times than not, they are largely using them because they looked cool to them.

Now as a gatekeeper in that position who is asking the questions, would it be wiser to actually educate them or just scream at them crazily? You could educate them a little and if the answers still boil down to "tee hee, I just think they cool anyways, I don't care" then you're permitted to brand them as bullshitters and an insult to actual people who take these symbols to heart.

You just don't simply want a lot of people misrepresenting and confusing something you care about, because it is damaging an identity at the end of the day. That's why gatekeepers are important to have around.

windows is easier to use,harder to break ,all apps and games support it natively.

hardware acceleration works on browsers on it unlike linux(yes it even works with nvidia)

nvidia drivers are perfect.

all hardware ever made for computers works on it.

everyone knows it.

it has real excutable forum. the .exe and is easy to give apps in it.

its very fast with modern ssds. laptops and pcs dont get sold without an ssd anymore so thats not a problem.

adobe apps work ,ms office works. kernel anti cheat apps work.

and you can use it without ever touching the terminal .

it has many sources to troubleshoot online and even ai is better at windows than linux (bec linux always changes) and you generally dont need to troubleshoot stuff just works.

This piece of shit has caused irreparable and traumatic damage to an innocent woman and is trying to hide behind a mental health issue.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11909163/accused-seawall-stranger-attack-seeks-not-criminally-responsible-finding/

Well, frankly, even if they were not mentally well that shouldn't absolve the danger or actions. They need to be removed from society. They should get some help. But the length of sentencing should not include leniency. They are criminally responsible.

I don't think it should be legal to anonymously create a facebook, instagram,X,tiktok,reddit account. Without having accounts traceable back to an identify illegal behavior never stops and the person is never held accountable. Online crimes but are unenforceable as long as anonymity is permitted. There is little to no good that comes from anonymously creating an account compared to the massive amounts of harm. Implementing restrictions does not affect 99.99% of the population and only filters out the tiny minority of people who represent a disproportional amount of harm on the platform.

I still think anonymity should be permitted on tor, i2p and less popular sites.

In life there are 4 types of people. Doers, thinkers, watchers, and instigators.

The doers do things. They have a plan, and they just do it. Doesn't even have to be their own plan. But it becomes their plan the moment they do it.

The thinkers don't pay attention to what has happened, they think of what they want to happen. They study what works, what doesn't work, and why. Then they think of their plans for the future. They may not even be the one to execute the plan, but they set the plan in place.

The watchers watch what everyone is doing. They don't influence outcomes. They just watch, and take notice of what is happening to develop a greater sense of information gathering.

And the instigators are usually self motivated. They stir shit up, to divide people for personal gain. Usually there is no plan. Just the fastest path to get others divided, and see how to benefit as it comes.

Well I'm a watcher. And 30 years ago I began noticing trends. I'd see local politicians tell my city (Cleveland) that their administration was going to be the one to bring Cleveland back on top. And then nothing happened. Then the next Mayor said they were going to put Cleveland back on top. And nothing happened. And then the next mayor said they were going to put Cleveland on top. I was at one of these city hall press confrences in 2004. I asked newly elected Mayor Jane Cambell what the plan was to put Cleveland on top as she claimed. Her answer was basic politician speak. Saying a lot of words to get people to nod their heads in agreement, but not actually saying anything of substance. I watched as everyone in the room clapped and smiled and was assured by her obviously prepared answer. This wasn't a plan. It was a dodge. Don't answer the question, but make everyone feel as if you did.

Around this time, it started coming out that Mike White, Mayor in 1996, was found guilty of corruption, fraud, financial embezzlement. The works. Then I watched as everyone around me started nodding and saying they knew it all along. Bitch, no you didn't. You didn't say a word. I didn't know either, but I was 13. I still watched as everyone felt luke warm about Mike White. And somehow this became Jane Cambells problem. She had a very short term. Never heard from her again.

And then came Frank Jackson. Again, I saw the reaction as luke warm water. He stayed mayor for like 15 years. Just because every election we hadn't heard of any new fraud. Then towards the end, his grandson was involved with organized crime, and he hadn't done anything of note his entire tenure.

What I also notice is that people like this, the doers, they don't face real reprocussions. Occasionally they do. I'd like to have seen Mike White imprisoned. That didn't happen. Instead, he just faded into obscurity. Stole millions in tax dollars meant for the schools, in a time when I was going to school. I remember our schools never had enough books. Never had enough supplies. Teachers underpaid. All so this asshole can get another bonus.

And you can apply this at a national level too. The athletes that make it to the big time. The NFL, THE NBA, the MLB, ect. They can rape women, and keep their jobs getting paid millions of dollars. They can drink and drive and when the cops come, they don't reach for their handcuffs. They reach for their cell phone to grab a selfie.

So 30 years ago, I said karma isn't real. There are good honest people in this world. You'll never hear from them unless you work with them, or are family to them. But they don't get a massive bonus sent to them from a corporation for helping the needy, the sick, the elderly, the mentally different. They don't get a free pass from law enforcement for making an honest mistake. Some of them get shot by the police for being not white.

Look at our president. Go out on the street and ask 100 people if they think he's a pedophile or not. I would be shocked if it wasn't a 100% yes. Yet, there he is. He's the president. I STILL think he rigged the system to do it.

Think he'll face jail time? Think he'll be hit with Karma? Did Nixon get a jail sentence, or a pardon?

Karma isn't real.

Reddit has this stereoytipe of being a niche community of insufferable internet chuds while Twitter was seen as more mainstream.

Now nowadays, this is completely different. Maybe it's the generational change and Gen Z men ruined Twitter, but it's like it got invaded by 4Chan mentally unstable losers and edgelords.

Reddit is a much more sensitive place, sometimes even too much, but I prefer people to be overly sensitive or offended over "Haha kill yourself liberal, and fuck women in video games women don't deserve to exist 👨🫃🏻"

Lately it feels like edgelords and trolls are multiplying, they used to be a minority of men no one cared about because they would drown in their own misery. But now they're like the average Instagram/Twitter user and you can see them on YouTube as well posting their opinions on lengthy debates.

If a story, game, show, or movie contains vampires, I am immediately bored and will suspect the creator of being uncreative. Vampires are not cool. They have never been cool. The are the most overdone "monsters" in any form of media. And they are almost always the same; people with the mannerisms from 1800's England or France and the dress sense of a 2005 Hot Topic. Why not ancient Babylon? Why not South American vampires? Why are their personalities always the fucking same? Why are they always so fucking formal? Why always the 1800's; this one bugs me the most because the media often claims that Vampires are thousands of years old, so supposedly they kept up with the times until the 1800's and then just stopped. It's because writers who use them are lazy and uncreative.

"Oh it's a metaphor for the duality of man and how there are secretly monsters living among-" shut the fuck up. Use a different metaphor if it's that important to your story. But it never is. That's never important to the story because they are always just so fucking lame. Always the same powers. Always the same weaknesses. They have been done to hell and back.

Use. A different. Monster.

ok so this is difficult to explain: the difference between consciousness and whatever LLMs are doing is that computers lack the experience that living beings make. the reason why LLMs will never be reliable, i.e. not make grave mistakes, is because they lack a concept of responsibility, i.e. they are careless because there's nothing on the line for them. they don't know what it's like to make a mistake and be wiped out from existence, trained over billions of years to not make these mistakes. meanwhile, living beings do. and that's the difference.

I know this is going to ruffle some feathers among purebred enthusiasts, but we need to stop pretending that modern show line dogs are the pinnacle of their breeds. In reality, conformation showing has completely ruined some of the most iconic dog breeds on the planet, prioritizing a bizarre, hyper exaggerated aesthetic over actual canine health and traditional functionality.

Look at what show lines have done to these breeds over the last few decades:

German Shepherds: Show lines have been bred for an extreme roach back and low sloping rear ends. They look like they are permanently crouching, leading to horrific, early onset hip dysplasia. Meanwhile, working lines (like Czech or East german lines) still have straight backs and functional bodies.

American Bullies (Pocket and Exotic Lines): While originally bred different from the American pit bull terrier, certain show and fad breeding circles have pushed the exotic and pocket bully to a structural breaking point. They are intentionally bred to be absurdly wide with flared elbows, bowed front legs, and completely straight rear stifles hocks. This toad-line look destroys their joints before they even hit adulthood, causing crippling arthritis and making a simple walk down the street an agonizing chore all to achieve a hyper masculine, cartoonish aesthetic.

Neapolitan Mastiffs: Show lines have taken the breed's trademark loose skin and dialed it up to a grotesque, debilitating degree. Modern show Neo mastiffs are bred for so much excess facial wrinkling that many suffer from severe ectropion drooping eyelids and entropion eyelids folding inward, causing their eyelashes to constantly scratch their eyeballs. They are plagued by chronic eye infections, vision impairment, and skin fold dermatitis, turning a historic, majestic guardian into a dog that can barely walk or see through its own skin.

The core problem is that kennel clubs award ribbons based on arbitrary visual standards rather than health, longevity, or temperament. If a dog can't run, breathe comfortably, or perform the historic task it was bred for without collapsing, it shouldn't be considered a "champion." It’s an ethical failure disguised as prestige. We need to completely shift our perspective. A dog's value shouldn't be judged by how perfectly it stacks in a show ring, but by its quality of life. Working lines and preservation breeders who test for genetic health and structural soundness rather than extreme physical traits are the only ones actually saving these breeds. The rest is just vanity at the expense of the animal.

It’s an annoyance for sure but I hate using off or other deterrents. Plus I guess I am contributing to the eco system somewhat by giving them nourishment.