The catarrhine who invented a perpetual motion machine, by dreaming at night and devouring its own dreams through the day.
I hope this growth snowballs from now on; larger market share → developers release Linux versions for their software → users have less reasons to keep Windows → larger market share. Basically, a network-like effect.
If Linux reaches ~25% we basically won; the only advantage Windows has at its disposal is that network-like effect - Linux is cheaper (literally free), less encumbered by anti-user restrictions, and you can run it even in a potato.
Looking forward, analysts predict Linux could hit 7% by 2027 if trends continue, driven by AI integrations in distributions like those from Canonical
Or rather, by their optionality. Some people want those tools, some don’t want to touch them with a 3m pole; Linux can appease to both, unlike Windows is doing.
What I want (for Civ 5; I don’t care about Civ 7) is semi-auto exploration: let me tell the scout the rough area I want it to explore, then ask me again once it’s done. It’s enough to reduce micromanagement, but it allows me to set up my priorities, that might be different from one playthrough to another.
Good-looking dark elves >> homunculi 100% of the time. Plus Takuto got some great early game bonus, research tends to be a big deal in this sort of game.
Relevant detail: this potential removal of the driver does NOT affect normal CD-R / DVD-R functionality. It’ll only prevent you from using them as if they were rewritable media.
Interconnect those baby steps, by having the governments
That IMO would increase the odds of success. And once the first steps are done, further steps will be easier.
From what I remember*, there was always some rough corner. Such as the wi-fi, or the graphics card. Sure, Stable was rock solid, but you always needed something from Testing; and Testing in general was overall less stable than Ubuntu or Mint.
*This was years ago, so it might be inaccurate as of 2025.
Mint is Ubuntu minus everything that makes Ubuntu annoying. That’s why I like it.
I considered to go back to Debian but… eh, I’m too old and impatient for that. Nowadays I mostly want things that work out of the box.
Pretty much - they’re lying it would introduce huge production costs, because most people who’d repeat this argument wouldn’t know they’re being lied to.
I got the demo, expecting something like “Stardew Valley meets Factorio”, and so far, it’s… okay, I guess?
Still early access so it has plenty issues; for example it’s unclear what gatherers do with the crops (if I’m nearby they pop up in my inventory, otherwise I guess they teleport to the storehouse?), and I keep losing track of my cursor because the game focuses on what’s close to the player avatar. But it might be a cool game in the future, dunno.
Not surprised with the lobbying group.
Ross did an amazing job addressing the babble in the statement. Specially because he’s being extra careful on saying things to the best of his knowledge - note how he doesn’t say “it’s false”, or “it’s a lie”, but rather “a German lawyer thinks this is false” and “this sounds like a lie”; gotta respect that.
Some additional comments:
The first paragraph of the lobbying group’s statement might sound like an introduction, but it’s already a straw man - it’s clearly misleading the reader on what Stop Killing Games is about.
as the protections we put in place
Excuse me?
Note #1 is a cancer way more widespread than just the gaming industry. Every fucking bloody time some megacorpo wants to fight against some sane customer protection law, they babble shite like this. And it always sounds like “a user/customer is not a rational human being, it’s irrational trash, and if you let it do what it wants it’ll cause itself harm, so We need to protect those filthy things. And how convenient, the way to protect this filth against itself magically aligns with our financial interests!”
these proposals would curtail developer choice by making these video games prohibitively expensive to create.
This is not even a fallacy. Not even bullshit. It’s simply to be a lying bastard, and to call the readers bloody muppets by proxy.
1M+ sign European Citizen’s Initiative “Stop Destroying Videogames”: Help us protect gamers’ consumer rights!
I think it would be sensible if the word “gamer” was replaced with “citizen” here. Because it’s what politicians care about.
They made Atou absolutely adorable! Seeing her embarrassed at the start, then pouting after the charity…
Also, great job highlighting the contrast between how Atou sees Takuto vs. how the dark elves see him. Not just in look (he looks like a shadow, that was already in the manga and novel), but also in “mood”, he’s supposed to be an Eldritch abomination from their PoV and the anime did a great job at it.
The opening was also cool IMO.
…perhaps I’m a bit too excited because it’s one of those series I anticipated quite a bit, but so far it’s a decent start IMO.
Yes. All my yes.
I’m low-key excited. It has been a long time since the anime series, it was a blast, and based on this trailer it seems the movie keeps rather well the “everything is so fucked up might as well laugh” feel.
In both cases you have businesses using the lack of legal representation to avoid following local laws. But that’s it; everything else is quite different.
I don’t think Procon organs have the power to ban the sales of an imported good within their states. But even if they do, note that this would only apply to the state (in this case São Paulo). Plus Nintendo is being considerably more tactful than that braindead idiot called Musk.
As I mentioned in another thread, São Paulo state’s customer protection organ is basically telling people to not buy Nintendo. Indirectly, with pretty words, but that’s what it’s doing.
[IANAL] Also, note some stuff in the Switch 2 user agreement is legally invalid in Brazil. Nintendo is shielding itself with an “ackshyually we don’t sell it in Brazil lol lmao”, that’s why Procon - SP is calling it out.
A lot of the Switch 2’s UA is also illegal in Brazil. For example, check section 7 (Dispute Resolution) - IIRC law protection is considered an inalienable right in Brazil, you can’t simply sign it off.
However Nintendo has been shielding itself by saying “ackshyually, we aren’t conducting business in Brazil”. That’s why São Paulo’s Procon is calling it out.
Procon-SP is a state customer protection organ. It’s more like “São Paulo’s watchdog” than “Brazil’s watchdog”. However since the state in question is populous and has relatively high purchasing power per capita, typically megacorpos beeline towards it anyway.
I’ll coarsely translate here the news from Procon-SP’s site. Emphasis mine in all cases, as I want to highlight something.
Procon-SP notified Nintendo to request changes in clauses deemed abusive, present in contracts made with Brazilian customers. The main complain involves the unilateral and unjustified cancellation of service subscriptions.
This showed a wider problem: Nintendo lacks formal representation in Brazil. This absence hinders conflict intermediation and the conduct of customer protecting organisations.
To handle this case, Procon-SP had to contact the headquarters of the business in USA. Only then the business named a law office in Brazil, but solely to handle the relevant clause.
The absence of formal representation in the country is an important warning to customers. Without such legal presence, the protection predicted by the Customers’ Defence Code is limited.
“The existence of legal representation within Brazil needs to be one of the criteria [potential customers] take into account to decide their purchases, specially so for digital services or foreign platforms”, says Álvaro Camilo (Procon-SP’s Service and Orientation director). “Without such groundwork, Procon organs cannot act in full power, given different countries have different laws”.
This precaution applies both to abusive clauses and common problems, such as delivery delay or service failure. When the business is not registered in Brazil, often there is no way to sue it.
In the last years, the number of purchases in international sites grew sharply in the country. However many of those platforms conduct businesses with no local judicial link.
Even for smaller purchases, there’s a real risk: the customer gets no goods, no answer, no support. Procon-SP recommends to be extra careful, doubly so for sites handling fashion, electronics, and accessory items.
Before purchasing something, it’s essential to verify if [a business] has CNPJ [i.e. it’s considered a legal entity in Brazil], a real address in Brazil, and support channels; those pieces of info are fundamental so Procon-SP can act in case of problems.
Nintendo informed that’ll analyse the request from the organ, and that it’ll answer it within 20 days. Until then, Procon-SP recommends customers should report irregularities through the site www.procon.sp.gov.br.
See the bolded parts? São Paulo’s Procon is basically telling people “Don’t buy stuff from Nintendo, it’s an irregular business in Brazil.”
I once had a cat that “elected” one of the beds as her litterbox. I have a feeling that, if she could, she’d blame humans for her shit.
If my dreams are versions of me from another universe, and I planted trees in both real life and a dream, does this mean the trees I planted in the dreams are versions of the trees I planted in real life?
So in one universe, Lala (my pine) is fighting the grey aliens! And in another, Malena (my lemon tree) is actually a palm tree, with a face carved in wood instead of leaves!
Wait, I often dream with a neighbourhood that doesn’t exist. (It’s as messy as the city in Uzumaki, except my dream precedes me seeing the anime by a lot of time.) Should it be the alt universe counterpart of some RL neighbourhood? …I feel sorry for whoever lives in that neighbourhood.