davetansley

davetansley, 2 months ago

Threads. We were shown it at school, about 12 or 13, told we should see it because it might happen. Didn’t sleep a full night after that until 2005.

davetansley, 3 months ago

I’m starting to think that we need to see AI research in the same way we see biological weapon research - a visit from a SEAL team or a cruise missile for any identified laboratory. Smash the disks, burn all the print outs!

Okay, this is hyperbolic and unrealistic, but I agree with this lion-maned YouTuber - we are really not ready.

AI as a tech is game changing, but it practically demands at least UBI (and probably some form of socialism) as a prerequisite. We, meanwhile, are still electing conservative governments! The same arseholes that will label the legions of unemployed artists, actors, musicians, coders, admin assistants etc etc as lazy and cut their benefits.

Does anyone truly believe that a tech that can replace half of human jobs is going to create happy outcomes in today’s society? Or will it just make tech-bros and scammers richer, and virtually everyone else poorer?

davetansley, 4 months ago

It’s the normalisation that disturbs me the most, the gradual slide into what would once have been seen as abhorrent.

Show some of the headlines from just this last week to people in 2015 and I expect most would recoil in horror. The GoP’s presumptive nominee openly using racist dog whistles; a court case where the judge warned jurors to never reveal their identify because of the fear of reprisal from the GoP nominee and his followers; the raw fact that he sexually molested a woman in the 90s; his instigation of civil war on the border in Texas… To name but a few.

All of this stands shoulder-to-shoulder with articles discussing his political prospects, his strategy to win over voters, how he is polling among white, middle-class women… as if he is in any way a normal candidate.

We need to take a step back, to think about what is happening here. Sadly, the very people who need to listen are the very people who can’t listen, people for whom any negative discussion of this candidate would merely serve to strengthen the narrative and reinforce the reality they’ve conjured into being.

There would seem to be no way out of this situation that won’t take decades, and which doesn’t stand every chance of being derailed whenever an election goes the wrong way.

davetansley, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago)

Religion has certain self-reinforcing properties. Kind of like genes that make it more likely to propagate against other forms of information.

• Believing without question is better than questioning
• Not believing will be punished
• Virtue will be rewarded
• Spreading the belief is a virtue
• You should obey your parents

Combine that with young human brains being malleable, and religion tends to continue against all odds.

davetansley, 5 months ago

Cool, is that “square one” where we can book a GP appointment for a time before the heat death of the universe? Sign me up!

davetansley, 5 months ago

In the North East of England, the North York Moors.

davetansley, 7 months ago

One thing I’m noticing is that buying retro handhelds can very easily become addictive. Few people stop at one. They’re cheap enough to be almost impulse purchases, they have enough differentiating features to make it easy to justify “just one more device”, and yet you end up playing mostly the same games.

I find myself watching Russ’s video here and thinking “hmmm, I really need one of these… you know, for Sega”, while trying not to make eye contact with my MM+, RP2S, modded Vita and modded 3DS.

davetansley, 7 months ago

North Yorkshire, in the UK.

davetansley, 7 months ago

Hah! I’d never seen that before! I don’t think it looks too bad :)

I’ve certainly seen worse Amiga ports!

davetansley, 7 months ago

If, like me, you do a lot of Chromecasting from your browser, you’ll want to install fx_cast. You need to do a bit of manual installation to get it running, but it works great when you do.

davetansley, 7 months ago

They 100% count!

davetansley, 7 months ago

It’s 20 years old… if Windwaker isn’t considered retro now, then Atari 2600 games weren’t considered retro in 1997 :)

davetansley, 7 months ago

Considered Dark Souls… but, honestly, the first time I played it, I hated it. And every successive playthrough, I’ve loved it more and more. Playing it for the first time would feel like a step back.

davetansley, 7 months ago

I picked it up blind after getting carried away in the magazine hype and excitement. I’d not played any FF games before that… man, that was quite an experience!

davetansley, 7 months ago

It does seem to have been overshadowed by Shadow of the Colossus somewhat.

davetansley, 7 months ago

Yeah, it really was amazing to play blind. We especially enjoyed the DLC… when we first realised what it was all about, it nearly blew our minds!

davetansley, 7 months ago

My heart says it should be Dark Souls, but my head reminds me I absolutely hated it until I’d figured out that the run from Undead Burg bonfire to Taurus Demon couldn’t be rushed, and the point of the game was to be slow and methodical. Then I loved it.

davetansley, 7 months ago

Nope, it’s Zelda 3 on the SNES.

davetansley, 7 months ago

Dwarf Fortress is one of those games that I love to read about, but I don’t think I would actually enjoy playing. Like Eve Online.

davetansley, 7 months ago

I love and hate the feeling in Animal Crossing that the world has just continued existing without you for the last 18 months that you haven’t booted it up. Feels like visiting old friends… but old friends that thought you were dead or something.