This lengthening of a succulent is a process known as Etiolation. It’s not getting enough light, so it’s stretching out as much as it can to try and get more light to each petal. The color change is also likely from the lack of sunlight as well. I’d suggest moving it to a window where it gets more light.

With how the past few Paradox releases have been, it’s hard to get excited about anything they’re promoting these days.

I think Tetris is probably the closest we’ve ever gotten to a “perfect video game”. It has such a tremendous staying power and an interesting learning curve. Playing original GB or NES Tetris is still a blast, but playing newer versions like Tetris Effect and Tetris 99 also have this amazing amount of charm. There are very few games where I think this kind of consistency has existed throughout the franchise’s lifespan.

I think the sweet spot for understanding technology is in the millennial age bracket (mid 80s to early 00s). This was a time when computers were so accessible in homes and there were rudimentary tools for designing and creating things on a computer, making it easy to start as an enthusiast hobby leading to a more complex understanding of how to get computers to do what you want. You knew the limitations of what a computer or program was capable of doing with and without modifying elements of it.

Then came iPads and Chromebooks, and everything was made brain dead easy and obfuscated how files and programs worked. So the interest in computers and tech devices was still there, but that level of being able to tinker was no longer as accessible. You didn’t need to understand HTML and CSS to make a website, you can just use a site building tool. You don’t need to learn code to modify or build programs, just use a user-friendly tool. The foundation for the understanding is gone, and now only the end product remains with a lot of younger users not thinking or caring about how that product was made.

I see teens today that don’t understand what saving a file is to a computer, or how to access it once it is saved. Because they just assume the software will handle all of those steps and they don’t need to understand it themselves.

My brother always likes to say “Remember, it’s All Wheel Drive, not All Wheel Stop” when reminding people about driving in the snow.

Why they changed it I can’t say.

I really love Terraforming Mars, but between the huge deck of project cards, the tons of little resource cubes, and the tiles on the board, it’s a lot of pieces to manage. I have a physical copy of the game and enjoy playing it, but it’s nice to have a digital version which keeps things clean and tidy when you want to play it quickly.

I really like having music/audio thumbnails in dynamic island while I’m using my phone. It’s nice to be able to tap onto the thumbnail and jump straight to the app playing audio.

I’m really hoping for some more cool things to come to the dynamic island, but it all depends on if Apple continues it for the next model of iPhone.

Now have at you!

But do you practice trumpet every day?

Hard disagree. You just need to play it long enough for the Stockholm syndrome to kick in. Once it has its claws in you, you can’t stop playing it. Trying to figure out what makes this garbage puzzle box tick.

I second Board Game Stats. It’s got a bunch of great customizing options too. You can do things like set the scoring method to things like players vs. game, or if you are playing a game in small teams, you can add multiple players onto a team to collectively track their score.

I’m also a sucker for data and stats, so it’s always fun to be able to look at previous plays, game statistics, player win rates, and other things. It is always a little bit of a bummer that it’s my score keeping record and my win rate is only about 30%.

I was the same way. I found myself much more capable of pulling myself away when I had to actively choose to load the next set of posts.

PlateUp! is a somewhat recent release that I love playing with groups on my steam deck. It’s a multiplayer restaurant sim (think Overcooked) mixed with a roguelite. It doesn’t have as fun unfair chaos as Overcooked and it feels great to play when you have a nice rhythm going.

Oooh. I want the cartoon mini-series Over the Garden Wall to be adapted into a stage show. With the way the episode are written, it already feels like it’s divided by scenes and acts, and it has some existing musical numbers. I think there’s a lot of room to have lighting effects and other traditional theater elements, and have longer versions of the songs to make an enjoyable version of the story on par with the cartoon in a new medium.

My copy of Tsuro is so beat up at this point because it’s been my go to starter game for people who don’t play a lot of board games. I love that there is really only one mechanic to understand, giving new players a chance to only have to consider a few things in their turn.

It might be silly, but I’m excited about being able to make better highway on/off ramps. It always drove me crazy that in unmodded C:S it was impossible to design realistic highway access because the roads couldn’t slope and occupy the same space properly.

True, but the first track of the album this version is on states “A brand new record for 1990”. So I would say this one is the version with reach.

Blasphemous. I played it for a few hours and thought it was punishing and couldn’t see why people liked it. I remember typing “Is Blasphemous supposed to be fun?” into a search because I just didn’t get it. Then I learned that while the game is open world like, I did not go to the easiest area first. But I cut my teeth on the real challenge and had so much fun that once I beat it I did a new game plus run with one of the special modifiers on and fully completed the game again immediately.

And To-Do supports apple watch now! Great for checking off a list while shopping without having to constantly unlock your phone.